12:00
The other men in the room were looking expectantly at the senator . He paused for a moment , glancing around at them , and then looked down at the paper and said : `` This is a bulletin from Tass News Agency , Moscow . '' Then he began reading . `` Russian Luna Base One announced that at 1600 Greenwich Standard Time -LRB- 12:00 N EDST -RRB- a presumed spacecraft of unknown design was damaged by Russian rockets and fell to the surface of Luna somewhere in the Mare Serenitas , some three hundred fifty miles from the Soviet base . The craft was hovering approximately four hundred miles above the surface when spotted by Soviet radar installations . Telescopic inspection showed that the craft was not -- repeat : not -- powered by rockets . Since it failed to respond to the standard United Nations recognition signals , rockets were fired to bring it down .