Soviet manned lunar programs

The Soviet manned lunar program was a futile attempt by the Soviet space exploration, the U.S. forestall the race to the moon.

After the successful space probe Lunik programs from 1959 and Luna from 1963 ( Soviet ) cosmonaut should now be the first man to land on the moon and forestall possible ( U.S. ) astronauts. The Soviet lunar program was top secret until the glasnost - time details about it have become known only after 1990.

Program

On 1 August 1964, the Soviet manned lunar program was split into two projects by Council of Ministers Decree ( 655-268 ). By the term LK -1 ( UR-500/LK-1 ) or later L -1 ( UR-500/L1 or Zond ) was in the OKB -52 of Tschelomei a Umfliegungsprogramm. The OKB- 1 of Korolev received with his project N1 -L3 the contract for the moon landing. With effect from 25 December 1965, the project UR-500/LK-1 was transferred to the project UR-500/L1 and took it in Korolev's OKB -1 over. Nevertheless, the program remained in two largely independent projects divided, which benefited only slightly from one another. Were used together ultimately only the block D, largely different versions of the command module of the Soyuz spacecraft and Rescue Systems SAS. The originally planned but never completed spacecraft LK -1 even turned a completely independent development Tschelomeis OKB -52 dar.

Technology

Launcher N1

For a manned mission the previous R-7 was much too small with five tons payload. With the large rocket N1 now 95 tonnes should be achieved, comparable to the 133 t of the American moon rocket Saturn V. This lower payload came all subprojects under the pressure of the mass reduction. The turn came at the expense of reliability and redundancy of the subsystems. Reserves ( the mass cost ), as for example could be used in Apollo 13 for the successful rescue of the crew, were in fact not present in the N1 use.

The development of the N1 was suffering mainly because no matching, large engines like the Saturn V were available or could be developed. From the intended Kuznetsov NK -15 engines, each with 1.44 MN thrust ( for launches from 1974 improved engines NK -33 were provided ) therefore had 30 pieces are used in parallel, which required a complex fuel supply and novel dynamic problems. Even were neither sufficient time nor funds for the construction of a first stage test bench available. After four false starts in 1969 to 1972, the development program of the N1 in 1974 was finally stopped.

Spaceship LOK

The LOC ( Lunnyi Orbitalnyi Korabl, lunar orbital spacecraft ') was a further development of the Soyuz spacecraft. Like this, it consisted of three parts:

• The spherical orbital section, which had an additional engine head at the top.
• The bell-shaped, aerodynamic return capsule, which due to the higher re-entry speed had a stronger heat shield.
• The larger compared with the Soyuz devices section with tanks, fuel cells and engines.

The energy should be supplied as with the Apollo spacecraft through fuel cells and not, as with the Soyuz spacecraft with solar booms. The lunar orbital spacecraft should provide space for two people and weigh about ten tons.

LK lander

From the Lunnyi Korabl (SC ), the Soviet lunar lander, are to this day known only to a few technical details: He was 5.20 m high and consisted of a 1440 kg heavy spherical cabin module, a 2950 kg heavy engine block (Block E) and a 1,260 kg heavy landing. He just weighed so that a third of its American counterpart, and had only a cosmonaut space. In contrast to the U.S. lunar module of LK was constructed stage: When starting back from the moon, only the landing gear should remain.

The lunar lander was disguised as Cosmos satellite, three times unmanned tested in Earth orbit. Kosmos 379 in November 1970, Cosmos 398 in February 1971 and Cosmos 434 in August 1971 The launches were made with Soyuz -L missiles, one specifically for this purpose adapted version of the Soyuz rocket. The tests were successful, and the lander reached the only part of the Soviet moon program for the maturity.

Today is a replica of the lander in Euro Disney in Paris.

Space suit

For the lunar mission, a space suit was developed, which should protect the cosmonauts during his stay on the moon. In contrast to the American model of entry from the rear was provided. For this, the life support unit could be folded away. A ready-made model is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC (USA) exhibited.

Planned route of the moon landing

After starting the spaceship LOK and LK ferry along with the special drive blocks G and D should (block D is used to this day in the Proton rocket ) fly to the moon and engage therein in an orbit. The landing a cosmonaut would be changed by an outboard maneuvers in the LK and had it disconnected along with the block D, which had had the majority of the required for landing deceleration. 4 km above the lunar surface should block D are dropped and the lunar module would (block E) further slowed down with their own drive system to touchdown.

After a stay of 24 hours and a moon walk of six hours, the LK would have started with their own drive system in a low lunar orbit should have been there, coupled with the orbital ship. After the transition of the landing cosmonauts it should be crashed and the LOC then return with two cosmonauts to Earth.

Some cosmonauts groups have been selected to train for the moon flight. Because of the difficulties with the rocket N1 was a moon landing but no earlier than 1972 think. However, after the successful landing of Apollo 11 in 1969, the USSR focused entirely on the development of the Salyut space stations, at least here the Americans, was already known to the Skylab program forestall. By October 1973, the cosmonauts trained but still for the moon landing.

Planned route of circumlunar flight

For the manned circumlunar flight should not be used without a Soyuz spacecraft orbital section labeled 7K- L1, the Moon orbital spacecraft LOK, but because of the limited payload capacity of the carrier rocket Proton (UR - 500K ). It was not possible because of the small payload of this combination to swing into the moon orbit. The two-seater spaceship should only perform a flyby and return to Earth.

It had been planned three manned flights, which were originally held from August to October 1967. The program ran but due to enormous technical defects in the proton and the spaceship in a delay of ultimately three years. As usual in the Soviet space program, though cosmonauts groups were trained, but made ​​no fixed assignment of astronauts and certain flights. After the Americans with Apollo 8 already orbited the moon in December 1968, the manned flights were canceled.

From 1968 to 1970 Zond 4 were taken 8 unmanned test flights to Zond under the names. Partly by animals to see how they react to weightlessness. Of these flights only Zond 7 and Zond 8 ran on schedule from others have had mixed success or proved to be total failures.