The Reds probably weren't as humiliated as the US likes to imagine them being. The US arbitrarily decided landing on the Moon would be the end-all be-all of the Space Race. They set out to do it, they did it, then they ran a victory lap. It was a remarkable accomplishment, but space is so incredibly large that it is a little bit silly to even conceive of there being a finish line in the first place. Two years after the Moon landing, Venera 7 became the first probe to land on the surface of Venus. A year later Mars 3 became the first probe to land on Mars (the US had accomplished successful fly-bys before these in the Mariner program). It is not like the US won space and everything was over. The "battle" continued, and milestones continued to be set by both space programs.
The Reds probably weren't as humiliated as the US likes to imagine them being. The US arbitrarily decided landing on the Moon would be the end-all be-all of the Space Race. They set out to do it, they did it, then they ran a victory lap. It was a remarkable accomplishment, but space is so incredibly large that it is a little bit silly to even conceive of there being a finish line in the first place. Two years after the Moon landing, Venera 7 became the first probe to land on the surface of Venus. A year later Mars 3 became the first probe to land on Mars (the US had accomplished successful fly-bys before these in the Mariner program). It is not like the US won space and everything was over. The "battle" continued, and milestones continued to be set by both space programs.
Reminds me of this post, which my space enthusiast brother has verified as true: https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/QcwmdEZfHF.jpg