The early Soviet probes to the moon, Mars, and Venus were a product of dogged persistence, according to Dr. Wesley Huntress. On March 26, 2012, Huntress, former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, spoke on the topic of Soviet robotic exploration to the moon, Mars, and Venus at the quarterly NASA History Office brown bag lecture. "Just like our own program, the Soviet lunar and planetary robotic exploration program grew out of the Cold War," he said. "Unlike ours, it nearly died with it with the fall of the Soviet Union." The Cold War was a "mysterious and sinister" impetus that was fueled by secrecy, Huntress explained. "We didn't know what they were doing, and they had a habit of beating us in the early days." (This presentation was made possible by the NASA History Office.)