Le Fabuleux Pari sur la Lune

12 Septembre 1959

Albert Ducrocq
Year1961
PublisherRobert Laffont
PlaceParis
LanguageFR
Pages235
Rating★★★★☆ (4/5)
AudienceGeneral, Student
LevelIntermediate
Keywords
rocketspace raceMoonLuna Programme
ThemesSpace Race, Soviet Cosmonautics, Lunar Exploration

A minute-by-minute chronicle of the Soviet Lunik II mission, the first spacecraft to reach the lunar surface on September 12, 1959. Albert Ducrocq traces the radio announcement, the launch from the Kazakhstan cosmodrome, tracking by the Jodrell Bank radio telescope, and the confirmed impact, before analysing international press reactions, the military implications of Soviet precision, and the geopolitical stakes: USSR scientific organisation, American lag, and the future of the space race.

📖 Editorial Review

On September 12, 1959, Lunik II struck the Moon after thirty-four hours of flight. Albert Ducrocq, France's foremost science communicator, reconstructs the event minute by minute and draws from it a political, military, and sociological analysis that far exceeds a simple mission account. …