I think there were more than a few backroom deals regarding the space program back then. Soyuz 1 for example:<p>an NSA analyst, identified in the book as Perry Fellwock, described overhearing Komarov tell ground control officials he knew he was about to die. Fellwock described how Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin called on a video phone to tell him he was a hero. Komarov&#x27;s wife was also on the call to talk about what to say to their children. Kosygin was crying.<p>--<p>The US was sitting upon a very embarrassing radio communication of Soyuz 1&#x27;s failure and didn&#x27;t act on it. You bet your ass this was traded for something valuable. The only reason we even know about this is because a non-state actor in Berlin happened to catch this conversation and told others about it.<p>I agree faking a moon landing is a bit much, but the argument that &quot;Russia and the US agree&quot; isn&#x27;t really worth anything. Right now Russia and the US agree that ISIS is the biggest threat in Syria, for example, but from a casualties numbers perspective Assad is responsible for 10x to 20x the deaths.  Political convenience often trumps truth.