Soviet agitprop poster

This poster was issued in 1963 for the Cosmonautics Day celebrations on April 12. In the upper right-hand corner is a description that in part states "The first in the world Soviet space ship 'Vostok' with the citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics--pilot-cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin..." Of special interest is that the poster shows that the "path to space" blazed by the entire flown Vostok cosmonaut cadre--has its course go right to the Moon. A Soviet worker, with outstretched arms, gazes upon the Soviet achievements and the firmament that is its background. Another highly visible example of the Russian authorities linking the achievements of the Soviet manned spaceflight program with the Moon.

CREDIT: Courtesy Rebecca Weiss / Swann Auction Galleries, New York.