Soviet space program omitted reports of failure or trouble". Out of fear of admitting any defeat, reports of cosmonauts' missions leaned towards an exaggerated positive spin rather than factual substance. "The USSR was famously described by Winston Churchill as 'a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma' and nothing signified this more than the search for the truth behind its space program during the Cold War. Although the Space Race was literally played out above our heads, it was often obscured by a figurative 'space curtain' that took much effort to see through" says Dominic Phelan in the book "Cold War Space
Painted enigma Painted enigma Originally used by Jesuits as a learning aid for students, painted enigmas are visual riddles - generally speaking, a picture with an easily understood superficial subject that contains a hidden meaning, usually one word. This differed from similar visual riddles such as the emblem or hieroglyph (Horapollo's ""Hieroglyphica"" for instance)which were simpler in design and intended to represent moral precepts. The emblem and painted enigma were similar in that each usually contained some clue that the composition contained a hidden meaning, usually a "written legend which might be a verbal riddle or rebus to be solved by the