Ad Astra

Timeline Name: Interstellar Apex

Range of Human Habitation (As of 2015):  The Sol System, Alpha Centauri.

List of Great and Superpowers:

United States of America

Republic of Europe

Union of Socialist Soviet Republics

Confederacy of Africa

Federative Republic of Brazil

People's Republic of China

United Arab Sultanate

Point of Divergence: The Soviet Union stays in the space race by landing on the moon, and the Space Race and Cold War drag on for decades more.

[b]History[/b]

July 18, 1969 21:11:42 UTC (POD): The Soviets successfully launch the [i]Lunokhod 8[/i], containing cosmonauts Alexey Leonov, Yevgeny Khrunov, and Valeri Kubasov. They plant the Soviet flag on the moon at Galilaei crater only hours after the Apollo astronauts landed. Alexey Leonov's first words were: "We have touched the stars." Letting their guard down in a rare public broadcast. The world is awestruck as they see both Soviet and American astronauts plant their respective flags on the moon. The scenes would later be one of the most famous emblems of the space race.

July through August; Massive parades across Los Angles, New York, Chicago, Moscow, Leningrad, and Nizhny Novogrod, celebrate the six astronaut's return. Both groups are invited to State dinners with President Richard Nixon and President Nikita Khrushchev (not ousted in this timeline), respectively. Communist and Western officials attend the dinners, for a total of 126 nations attending both events. While the atmosphere is festive, both sides speak in hushed voices behind closed doors about prepare to step up the space race.

November 5: [i]Lunokhod 9[/i] successfully lands on the moon with only one of the Block A engines failing (later determined to be from the electronics melting because of a gap in the insulation) with minimal impact on the mission. The cosmosnauts landed on November 8, 1969, in the Sea of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum), 50 meters from their target, [i]Luna 9[/i]. The world is shocked again, and America goes into a [i]Lunokhod[/i] crisis. Cold War tensions shoot up higher than ever, as America scrambles to launch Apollo 12.

November