The US Stole a Soviet Spacecraft for 24 Hours - Without Ever Being Noticed

In the early years of the Space Race, the CIA pulled off one of the most unlikely heists of the Cold War era. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s orders, CIA agents got their hands on a functional prototype of the victorious Soviet Lunik space probes launched in 1959. In collaboration with the Mexican secret services, the CIA managed to kidnap the prototype for 24 hours after it left a Soviet exhibition hall in Mexico City.