New Moon Route Paved! 1968

This impressive 1968 original Soviet poster by O. Maslyakov celebrates one of the milestones of the Space Age with the triumphant slogan: “New Moon–Earth route paved!” The poster refers to the achievements of the Soviet Zond programme, which successfully carried out circumlunar missions during the late 1960s, marking a crucial step in deep-space exploration. At the top of the composition, a spacecraft streaks across the dark blue cosmos, leaving behind a bold red path that connects the Moon and Earth—transformed here into a powerful visual metaphor of technological conquest and scientific progress.

In true Soviet graphic tradition, the design is strikingly simple yet symbolically rich. The enormous red star dominating the foreground serves as both a patriotic emblem and a dynamic compositional anchor, while the cool blue typography contrasts with the fiery trajectory, enhancing the sense of motion and victory. The minimal yet dramatic visual language reflects the optimism, confidence, and competitive energy of the Cold War space race, when each new success was framed as both a triumph of science and an ideological achievement.

Today, this poster stands as a vivid piece of visual history. It captures a moment when space exploration embodied hope, pride, and daring ambition, and when artists like Maslyakov played a key role in communicating those emotions to the public. Its clarity of design, bold symbolism, and historical resonance make it an iconic and highly collectible example of Soviet space propaganda art.