> ... weren't the Soviets unsuccessful in getting a
> man to the moon and then back alive?
As far as I know, they never actually tried. Their Saturn-
class booster was a disaster. Here's Oberg's summary on
dead cosmonauts. I haven't read it, although I did read
Oberg's "Red Star in Orbit" many years ago.
http://www.igs.net/~hwt/oberg/deadcosm.htm
Red Star in Orbit is a brilliant book, sadly it is out of print, but I re-read my copy from time to time...