The USSR made history on April 12, 1961 when it sent Yuri Gagarin - hero and heartthrob - into space. On this monumental day, the Soviet Union won a major Space Race victory over their greatest enemy, the USA.

But what if Yuri wasn't the first attempt, or even the first to succeed? In the first episode of The Moon Landing Was an Inside Job, we explore the chilling theory that the Soviet Union sent others into space, that they died up there, and that they were wiped from history.

Sources for this episode:

https://www.rbth.com/history/331849-before-gagarin-not-first-space

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/the-doll-that-helped-the-soviets-beat-the-us-to-space/274400/

https://www.wired.com/2011/04/soviet-space-propaganda/

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-enduring-myth-of-phantom-cosmonauts

Wikipedia!!