In the late 50s and early 60s, the U.S. space program wasn't doing great.

The Soviets had beaten the U.S. to almost every major first in space, and American rockets kept

blowing up on the launch pad.

According to declassified CIA documents, one night the Americans did their best to get back, even if it was a bit underhanded.

Learn more about how the CIA managed to kidnap a Soviet lunar probe on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Curiosity Stream.

If you're interested in the history of the space program and of the space race,

then Curiosity Stream is the streaming platform for you.

They have dozens of shows about the history of spaceflight,

the exploration of the solar system and of astrophysics.

Prices start as low as 299 per month or 1999 per year, one of the cheapest streaming services

online. If you love to learn and if you're listening to this podcast you probably do

then start your subscription by visiting everything dash everywhere dot com

slash curiosity stream or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

When you think back to the space race,

you'll usually think of engineers with pocket protectors

or scientists wearing lab coats. think of

Spoket protectors or scientists wearing lab coats.

You don't usually think of spies and cloak and dagger operations.

However, if you just realize that the space race was part of the Cold War,

then the idea really isn't that crazy at all.

There was quite a bit of Tom Foolery and Sculldogery going on with spy agencies of the United States

and the Soviet Union.

...