Unfortunately there would be no way for the USSR to know that they weren't going there to nuke Moscow from the south where there weren't any radars looking. I'

Unfortunately there would be no way for the USSR to know that they weren't going there to nuke Moscow from the south where there weren't any radars looking. I'm not sure if that was ever seriously considered on the US side but my sense is that the eventual realization that there was no way for the USSR to know and trust that is part of what stopped the shuttle from ever launching from there.