Skip to content
79,433 pages · 13,741 images · since 1994 Browse A–Z Today in space history
Encyclopedia Astronautica The full story of spaceflight
Encyclopedia entry

KGB Dwarf

Person · Russia

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

Lunokhod 1 / Ye-8-LS
Lunokhod 1 / Ye-8-LS
Mature First Generation Soviet Space Systems
Credit: © Mark Wade

Russian phantom cosmonaut. Moscow urban legend of 1970: diminutive robot Lunokhod crawler was actually driven by a midget KGB agent on a one-way suicide mission to the lunar surface.

The feat of remotely driving the unmanned Lunokhod lunar rover around the lunar surface must have seemed a bit beyond Soviet technology for some Muscovites. So an urban legend was put about that the diminutive Lunokhod was actually driven by a midget KGB agent on a one-way suicide mission to the lunar surface. How sufficient provisions were packed into the tiny rover during its eleven month mission was not explained...

Related

Country
Russia

Chronology

1 event

1971 October 4

  • Death of 'KGB Dwarf'. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: KGB Dwarf. Russian phantom cosmonaut. Moscow urban legend of 1970: diminutive robot Lunokhod crawler was actually driven by a midget KGB agent on a one-way suicide mission to the lunar surface..