Soviet Union on the Moon
On the day of the 45th anniversary of the landing of the first people on the Moon, “Russian Planet” recalls the Soviet lunar program

A month after Gagarin's space flight, US President John F. Kennedy gave NASA a clearly defined goal: "If we can get to the Moon before the Russians, then we should do it."

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Kennedy's speech was preceded by several years of space triumphs of the USSR, including successful flights to the Moon and filming it reverse side. It was a challenge. Just eight years later, on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 Americans to visit Earth's moon. Three years later the members last mission Apollo 17 did not just take a “small step”, but already in full rode on a lunar rover on the Sea of ​​Clarity.

Those six expeditions into the unknown 300 thousand kilometers from their home planet inspired generations of astronauts, science fiction writers and dreamers. Humanity momentarily believed in space colonization. But the practical side of the lunar program was not so rosy: for billions of dollars, almost half a ton of dusty regolith with rather dubious scientific value was brought to Earth. In the 1970s, American authorities forever turned away from the idea of ​​manned flights to the Moon. The political task of the space race had already been completed.

The glory of space pioneers passed to the Americans, but the Soviet Union tried to maintain leadership until the last, developing its own lunar program.

2. Automatic interplanetary station Luna-1 with the last stage of the launch vehicle

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote about space flights in the 19th century. In the first half of the 20th century, engineer Mikhail Tikhonravov mathematically substantiated the possibility of flying a multi-stage rocket to the Moon. His developments served as the basis for the creation by the chief Soviet designer Sergei Korolev of the R-7 rocket, with which the space age began - the “seven” sent Sputnik, Laika and Gagarin into orbit. Already in the mid-1950s, Korolev said that flights to the Moon were “not such a distant prospect.” A design department for spacecraft is opened in his design bureau, of which Tikhonravov becomes the head.

In 1959, a modified R-7 (called the “First Space Rocket” in a TASS report) launched Luna 1 into space, two years after Sputnik’s triumphant flight. “That night when Sputnik first traced the sky, I looked up and thought about the predetermination of the future. After all, that little light, rapidly moving from one end to the other of the sky, was the future of all humanity. I knew that although the Russians were wonderful in their endeavors, we would soon follow them and take their rightful place in the sky,” recalled the American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.

The writer was not mistaken, but so far the space pioneer was the Soviet Union. Luna-1 became the first human product to successfully reach escape velocity, rushing towards the Earth's satellite. Previous launches, including American Pioneers, ended in accidents. The device carried measuring instruments, four radio transmitters and power supplies. To prevent terrestrial microorganisms from reaching the Moon, the ship was subjected to thermal sterilization. The flight ended unsuccessfully: due to problems with the engine, Luna-1 missed six thousand kilometers, entering a heliocentric orbit. Nevertheless, for her almost successful attempt, she was nicknamed “The Dream.”

3. Luna-2 and Luna-3 (from left to right)

A year later, Luna 2 completed a historic mission, flying from Earth to another for the first time. heavenly body. Unlike modern devices, the Soviet ship did not have any parachutes. Therefore, the landing turned out to be as simple and rough as possible - Luna 2 simply collapsed on September 14, 1959 at 00:02:24 Moscow time on the western shore of the Sea of ​​Rains. On board there were three pennants with the inscription “USSR, September 1959.” The area where it fell was called Lunnika Bay.

Another month later, Luna 3 orbited the Moon and transmitted the first photographs of its far side in human history. The images were taken by two cameras with long- and short-focus lenses and sent to Earth by the Yenisei photo-television device developed by the Leningrad Research Institute of Television. In the same year, the American Pioneer 4 failed to complete a similar mission, becoming the fifth US ship that never reached the Moon. After this, the entire Pioneer program was considered a failure and was refocused on other tasks. The Americans will continue to try to take photographs for several more years, but in the USSR they have already full swing Preparations were already underway for the soft landing of the lunar spacecraft.

4. Map of the far side of the Moon

In 1960, based on photographs of Luna 3, the USSR Academy of Sciences published the first atlas of the far side of the Moon with 500 landscape details. They also made the first lunar globe depicting two-thirds of the surface of the opposite hemisphere. The names of the photographed landscape elements were officially approved by the International Astronomical Union.

5. Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy during a meeting in Vienna, June 3, 1961

In his 1961 inaugural address, Kennedy invited the Soviet Union to “explore the stars together.” In a response letter, Khrushchev congratulated the United States on the first orbital flight of John Glenn and agreed to join forces. Many years later, the son of the first secretary, Sergei Khrushchev, recalled that his father was determined to cooperate with the Americans. Kennedy instructed the government to prepare a draft for a Soviet-American space program, which would include a joint landing on the Moon.

In September 1963, the American President again raised this topic at General Assembly UN: “Why should man's first flight to the moon be a matter of interstate competition? Why do the United States and the Soviet Union need to duplicate research, design efforts and expenses when preparing such expeditions? I am sure we should explore whether the scientists and astronauts of our two countries, and indeed the whole world, could not work together in the conquest of space, sending not representatives of any one state, but representatives of all our countries to the Moon one day this decade.”

It would seem that everything was ready for that era to be remembered not as a space race, but as a great alliance of two powers to conquer the Universe. But a month later, Kennedy was killed, and with him the dreams of a joint space program were killed. There was no more talk about her. According to Khrushchev's son, "if Kennedy had survived, we would have lived in a completely different world."

6. Cover of the magazine Youth Technology for September 1964

In 1964, “Technology for Youth” published the article “Why does man need the Moon?”, which begins with a quote from Tsiolkovsky: “My worries will give mountains of bread and an abyss of power.” A manned flight to the earth’s satellite seems to be a done deal for the Soviet popular science publication: “Soon man will fly to the moon. What for? Not just out of sporting interest? (...) Of course, the Moon is just a link in an endless chain of other scientific achievements. She will not give us the entire “abyss of power,” but we will demand something, and a considerable one, from her as soon as a human foot sets foot on its age-old dust.”

Not going for fossils soviet man to the Moon - “delivery would be too expensive.” For knowledge! To conduct an “isotopic analysis of the chemical elements of lunar rocks”, to obtain “information about the influence cosmic rays on different types plants"; do meteorological forecasts, observing “the movement of clouds immediately on half globe"; find “inorganic oil” and build the first extraterrestrial observatory. And thanks to the untouchable lunar landscape, it will “take scientists billions of years ago, reveal the secrets of history and our Earth.”

The most futuristic plan is to sheathe the surface of the satellite with mirror glass. Then the Moon will reflect sunlight around the clock, and “Leningrad’s white nights will penetrate all corners of the Earth.” “This will provide enormous energy savings on lighting,” the article says.

7. Drawing of the landing of the Luna-9 space station

On February 3, 1966, the world's first soft landing on the Moon took place. The station confirmed that the lunar surface is solid, there is no multi-meter layer of dust on it, and transmitted television panoramas of the surrounding landscape. The landing area in the Ocean of Storms was called the Lunar Landing Plain.

Looking at the images transmitted by Luna 9 turned out to be more difficult than sending the station itself into space. The signal from it was intercepted by the Manchester University Observatory. English astronomers decided not to publish lunar photos and wait for the official Soviet presentation. But the next day no statements were made. The British sent a telegram to Moscow. Nobody answered them, and even then the astronomers sent the pictures to newspapermen. Subsequently, it turned out that in the USSR, photographs taken by Luna-9 were passed from one instance to another for a long time, collecting the signatures necessary for publication.

8. Sergei Korolev, Vladimir Chelomei, Mikhail Yangel (from left to right)

The Soviet manned lunar program may have been doomed from the start; it was in turmoil from the start. In 1964, by the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers “On work on the exploration of the Moon and outer space"The date of the Soviet expedition to the Moon was determined - 1967-1968. However, there was no unified plan or schedule. In the 1960s, three design bureaus of famous Soviet engineers - Korolev, Chelomey and Yangel - worked secretly on launch vehicles and the lunar modules themselves.

9. Schemes of the N-1, UR-700 and R-56 missiles (from left to right)

Korolev worked on the super-heavy N-1 rocket, Chelomey on the heavy UR-500 and super-heavy UR-700, Yangel on the super-heavy R-56. An independent assessment of the sketches, on behalf of the government, was carried out by Academician Mozzhorin. Yangel's project was eventually abandoned, ordering the construction of the N-1 and UR-500. Sergei Khrushchev worked for Chelomey in those years, including on the development of the UR-500.

10. Model of the N-1 launch vehicle on a scale of 1:10 (left) and
the last stage of the N-1 rocket on a scale of 1:5

Korolev proposed assembling a heavy interplanetary spacecraft in orbit. The super-heavy N-1 with 30 engines was intended for this purpose, the operation of which had to be carefully coordinated.

“Until the end of 1963, the structure of the lunar expedition had not yet been chosen. Initially, our designers proposed an option with good supply by weight. It provided for a three-launch scheme with the assembly of a space rocket in assembly orbit near the Earth with a total launch mass (including fuel) of 200 tons. At the same time, the payload mass for each of the three H1 launches did not exceed 75 tons. The mass of the system during the flight to the Moon in this version reached 62 tons, which was almost 20 tons higher than the corresponding mass of Apollo. The mass of the system landing on the surface of the Moon was 21 tons in our proposals, while for Apollo it was 15 tons. But there were not even three launches in our scheme, but four. It was planned to launch a crew of two or three people into space on the proven 11A511 rocket - that was the name of the R-7A rocket produced by the Progress plant for manned launches at the end of 1963, writes Boris Chertok, Korolev’s main ally, in “Rockets and People” .

11. Computer model Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft in space

Korolev's project was named N1-L3; he designed not only the rocket, but also the L3 lunar complex consisting of an orbital ship and a landing module, on which the astronauts were supposed to descend to the surface of the satellite. One of the contenders for the role of an orbital ship was Soyuz 7K-L. Five copies made successful automatic flights - one even circled the Moon and returned to Earth. There were two turtles on board.

The first manned launch of 7K-L1 was planned for December 8, 1968, ahead of Apollo 8, which launched on the 21st and brought people to orbit the Moon for the first time. But due to the lack of development of 7K-L1, the flight was postponed.

12. Computer model of the LOK ship in space

Another modification of the Soyuz is 7K-LOK (Lunar Orbital Ship). Upon reaching the lunar orbit, the Lunar Ship, the Lunar Ship, was to be detached from it, on which one cosmonaut would go down.

Due to the characteristics of the designed ships, they wanted to send only two astronauts to the Moon, of which only one could land on the satellite itself. NASA, in turn, formed a team of five people. Soviet designers also expected that the ship would land and take off using only one engine—the Americans developed two different ones for these purposes.

The chances of success were also reduced by the fact that the USSR did not organize preliminary photography of sections of the Moon from close range to select the landing site for the cosmonauts. In the USA, 13 successful flights were made for this purpose.

13. Computer model of the Lunar ship on the surface of the Moon

The lunar ship consisted of a pressurized cabin that could accommodate only one astronaut, a compartment with attitude control engines with a passive docking unit, an instrument compartment, a lunar landing unit and a rocket unit. There were no solar panels installed on it; the power supply was provided by chemical batteries.

The spacecraft was launched three times empty into low-Earth orbit, where they simulated a flight to the Moon - last time in 1971. Based on the test results, it was decided that the lunar module is completely ready to remain on the earth’s satellite. However, in the early seventies there was little sense in the belated success - the Americans had already visited the satellite several times.

14. Alexey Leonov (center) and Yuri Gagarin (right) look at photographs of the lunar surface, 1966

A group of astronauts for the flight to the Moon was established in 1963. Gagarin was initially appointed head of the team. The first Soviet cosmonaut to set foot on the moon was to be Alexey Leonov. When the 7K-L1 flight was canceled in 1968, the team wrote a statement to the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee asking for permission to fly to the Moon. A year later, the group was disbanded - first they stopped training for the lunar flyby, and six months later they stopped training for the landing.

15. N1 rocket accident

The launches of N1, on which the greatest hopes were placed for delivering the LOK and LC to the Moon, did not work out. The death in 1966 of Academician Korolev, who led most of the work, called the project into question. The work was continued by his colleague Vasily Mishin.

The first launch in the spring of 1969 ended in a crash 50 kilometers from the cosmodrome: automatic system control, having overheated, turned off all engines. During the second, two weeks before the Apollo 11 flight, one of the engines caught fire, causing the automation to shut down the other 29. The rocket fell directly onto the Baikonur launch pad, destroying the entire infrastructure. Perhaps this was the first harbinger of loss in the space race: 11 days later, the Americans landed on the Moon, and our launch pad was just beginning to be rebuilt. The renovation will take two years.

In 1971, in order not to destroy the launch complex again, after launch the rocket was moved to the side, as a result of which it began to rotate around a vertical axis and fell apart. During the fourth launch, one of the engines caught fire again, after which the rocket was destroyed by a team from Earth. Along with it, 7K-LOK, which was supposed to go to the Moon without a crew, also crashed. All further planned launches were canceled - by this point the Soviet Union had already completely lost the lunar race.

16. Diagram of the UR-700 missile

A fundamentally different version of a manned flight was proposed by Academician Chelomey - to send a ship of his own production LK-700 on the super-heavy UR-700 directly to the Moon without assembly in low-Earth orbit. The rocket's payload in low Earth orbit was supposed to be about 150 tons - 60 tons more than the Royal N-1. Chelomey's descent module could accommodate two cosmonauts.

UR-700-LK-700 was intended not only for manned flights there and back, but also for the creation of stationary bases on the Moon. However, the expert commission only allowed preliminary design of the complex. The central argument against it was the extremely toxic fuel cocktail - 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, nitrogen tetroxide, fluorine and hydrogen. If such a rocket fell, there would be nothing left of Baikonur.

17. UR-500 rocket at the launch position

As a result, it was the Chelomeevskaya medium-heavy UR-500 that became the main Soviet space rocket. In the early sixties it was simultaneously developed as an intercontinental ballistic missile with a warhead, and as a launch vehicle for spacecraft weighing 12-13 tons. After Khrushchev was removed from office, the combat option was abandoned. Only the spacecraft launch vehicle remained in operation, and already in 1965 they carried out a series of successful launches.

Today we know the UR-500 as “Proton”.

18. Yakov Zeldovich

It was proposed to send not only astronauts to the Moon, but also a nuclear bomb. The idea was put forward by atomic physicist Yakov Zeldovich, who hoped that the pillar from the explosion would be seen anywhere on the planet and it would become clear to the whole world that the USSR had conquered the Earth’s satellite. He himself rejected his initiative after calculations showed that the trace was even nuclear explosion They won’t see it from Earth.

Republican Robert McNamara, who served as US Secretary of Defense in the sixties, said that several senior Pentagon officials at that time were afraid that the Soviet Union would carry out nuclear tests on the back side of the Moon, thereby violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. McNamara himself called such ideas “absurd” and that these officials were “out of their minds” due to the Cold War. Ironically, it later turned out that the Pentagon had exactly the same plan to explode a nuclear bomb on the Moon - the so-called A119 project, however, like the Soviet one, it was not implemented.

19. Model of the interplanetary station Luna-16

In September 1970, a year after Armstrong's flight, the Soviet Union managed to deliver regolith beyond Earth. Luna 16, which landed in the Sea of ​​Plenty, drilled a 30-centimeter hole and brought back as much as 100 grams of sand.

20. Drawing of the landing of the automatic station Luna-17 with Lunokhod-1

The Soviet Union was unable to send a single person to the Moon, but was making huge strides in robotic space exploration, which the United States would bet on after the last Apollo. Luna 17, sent by Proton, landed in the Mare Mons area. Two and a half hours after landing, Lunokhod-1, the world's first moving vehicle to operate on an alien surface, rolled down the ramp from the landing platform.

21. Landing stage of Luna-17, image transmitted by Lunokhod-1

The Lunokhod was built at the plant named after. S.A. Lavochkin under the leadership of chief designer Babakin. Its chassis - eight wheels with a separate engine for each - was designed at the Leningrad Institute of Transport Engineering VNIITransMash.

He worked for 10 months or 11 lunar days, drove 10 kilometers and performed soil surveys at 500 points. I traveled mainly along the plain south of Rainbow Bay in the Sea of ​​Rains.

22. Route of Lunokhod-2

A year after the Americans last visited the Moon, Lunokhod-2 will land on it. He was landed in the Lemonnier crater on the eastern shore of the Sea of ​​Clarity. Unlike his older brother, he moved much faster and traveled almost 40 kilometers in four months.

A few more years will pass and the USSR and the USA will finally curtail their lunar programs- this time already robotic. The last one will be Luna 24 in 1976. Only in 1990 did Japan launch its first lunar probe, Hiten, becoming the third state to rush to the Earth's satellite.

23. Still from the movie “Funny Stories”

After countless attempts, the Americans finally managed to land a man on the Moon. The first thing he saw was another person.

- Hey, buddy, you're Russian, of course?
- No, I'm Spanish! - Spaniard? Damn it, how did you get here?

- It’s very simple: we took a general, put a priest on him, then again alternately generals and priests, until we finally reached the Moon!
“Technology for Youth” No. 9, 1964

Permission and resources to continue modification of the Vostok and Voskhod type spacecraft and only preliminary preparation of lunar manned projects, including a flyby of the Moon assembled in orbit by the 7K-9K-11K complex of the early Soyuz project.

Only a few years later, with a great delay relative to the United States, on August 3, a government decree approved the lunar manned program of the USSR and real large-scale work began on two parallel manned programs: a flyby of the Moon (“Proton” - “Zond/L1)” by 1967 and landing on it (N-1 - L3) by 1968 with the start of flight design tests in 1966.

The resolution contained a complete list of all participants in the development of systems for L1 and L3 and prescribed multilateral work in which, it seemed, “no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.” Nevertheless, questions about the detailed distribution of work - who issues requirements to whom and for which systems - were debated and the answers to them were signed with private decisions and protocols for another three years.

The design of the L1 and L3 ships and the N-1 rocket units, as well as the development of schemes for expeditions to and to the Moon, began even before the adoption of the program - in 1963. Over the next two years, working drawings of the N-1 rocket were released and the first preliminary designs of lunar spacecraft appeared.

Dozens of government officials needed to understand the production and technical scale of the entire lunar program, determine the full volume of capital construction and make preliminary calculations of the total necessary costs. The economy of those years did not allow particularly accurate calculations. Nevertheless, experienced Gosplan economists, with whom Korolev usually consulted, warned that the real figures for the necessary costs would not pass through the Ministry of Finance and Gosplan. Not to mention the costs of a nuclear missile shield, it was necessary to find funds for new proposals for heavy missiles from Chelomey and Yangel.

The calculations submitted to the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers were underestimated. Officials of the State Committee for Defense Equipment, the Council of Ministers and the State Planning Committee made it clear that the documents should not intimidate the Politburo with many billions. There should be no extra costs in the project estimate. Chelomey and Yangel began to prove that their projects were much cheaper. Pashkov, highly knowledgeable in the policies of the State Planning Committee, advised: “develop production with at least four carriers per year, involve everyone who is needed in the work, but according to a single schedule. And then we will issue more than one resolution. It is unlikely that anyone would dare to close down a work of such magnitude. There will be success - there will be money! Involve as many businesses as possible without delay.”

In order to understand the design contradictions between Korolev, Chelomey and Yangel, Ustinov instructed NDI-88 to carry out an objective comparative assessment of the possibilities of lunar exploration with the carrier variants N-1 (11A52), UR-500 (8K82) and R-56 (8K68). According to the calculations of Mozzhorin and his employees, in order to unconditionally ensure priority over the United States, it is necessary to assemble a 200-ton rocket system in orbit near the Earth with the help of three N-1s. To do this, you will need three N-1 missiles or twenty UR-500 missiles. In this case, a ship weighing 21 tons will land on the Moon and a ship weighing 5 tons will return to Earth. All economic calculations were in favor of the N-1. Thus, N-1 became the main promising carrier for the implementation of the Soviet lunar program and, as it turned out later, main reason her failures.

• E-1 - collision with the moon. Four launches. 1 partial success (Luna-1)
• E-1A - collision with the moon (Luna-2)
• E-2 - photographing the far side of the Moon. Launch was scheduled for October-November 1958. Canceled
• E-2A - photographing the far side of the moon using the Yenisei-2 photosystem. Completed (Luna-3)
• E-2F - canceled due to problems with the Yenisei-3 photosystem. The launch was scheduled for April 1960.
• E-3 - Photographing the far side of the Moon. Launched in 1960.
• E-4 - Nuclear explosion on the surface of the Moon. Canceled
• E-5 - Entry into lunar orbit. Was planned for 1960
• E-6 - Soft landing on the Moon. Was planned for 1960
• E-7 - Photographing the surface of the Moon from orbit. Was planned for 1960

Implementation of the program

The program was implemented according to the same principles as in the United States. At first, attempts were made to reach the surface of the Moon using AMS.

With their help, it was planned to perform a number of important applied tasks:

• better understand the physical properties of the lunar surface;
• study the radiation situation in near space;
• develop technologies for creating delivery vehicles;
• demonstrate the high level of domestic science and technology.

However, unlike the Americans, some of the work, especially those related to the manned aspect of the program, was classified. Before this year, only a few Soviet sources (“Yearbook of the TSB” and the encyclopedia “Cosmonautics”) casually mentioned that the “Zond” apparatus was an unmanned prototype of a ship for circling the Moon, and general and non-specific phrases about future landings of Soviet cosmonauts on the Moon in official sources stopped appearing even earlier - after a year.

In addition, imperfect technology has necessitated the need for redundancy of individual systems. Since a manned flight around the Moon and landing on its surface was a matter of prestige, it was necessary to take maximum measures to prevent casualties in case of emergency situations.

To study the lunar surface, as well as for detailed mapping of possible landing sites for Soviet lunar spacecraft, the Luna series of satellites (representing vehicles for various purposes) were created. Also, special versions of lunar rovers were designed to support landing expeditions.

Lunar Cosmonaut Squad

The lunar group of the Soviet detachment of civilian cosmonauts at the TsKBEM in the Cosmonaut Training Center was actually created in the year. At the same time, before the strictest secrecy was imposed on the Soviet lunar program, Tereshkova spoke to foreign journalists about this and the fact that Gagarin was initially the head of the group during a visit to Cuba. Since then, the group has been documented (as a department for training cosmonaut commanders and researchers for the lunar program), in May it was approved by the Military-Industrial Commission, and in February it was finally formed.

According to published sources, key members of the group were present and inspected the ships during the launches of Zond-4 and subsequent L1 spacecraft (including, while at Baikonur, awaiting permission to fly Zond-7 on December 8), as well as L1S on the second launch of the N-1 launch vehicle. Popovich and Sevastyanov and others negotiated with the control center through the Zond ships during their flights.

Manned flyby of the Moon (UR500K/Proton-L1/Zond complex)

In different design bureaus there were a number of projects to fly around the Moon, including several launches and assembly of a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit (before the advent of the Proton rocket) and direct flight around the Moon. For the implementation of the flight program, a project was selected and brought to the stage of the last unmanned development launches and flights from the newly created OKB-1 Korolev 7K-L1 spacecraft as part of the Soyuz family and the Chelomey OKB-52 Proton launch vehicle created somewhat earlier.

• submit a schedule for the production and testing of the UR-500 missile within a week;
• together with the heads of OKB-1 and OKB-52, S. P. Korolev and V. M. Chelomey, within two weeks, consider and resolve issues about the possibility of unifying the manned spacecraft being developed for flying around the moon and landing an expedition on its surface;
• within a month, submit the LCI program for the UR-500 rocket and manned spacecraft.

Nevertheless, both the military-industrial complex and the Ministry of General Machinery found it expedient to continue work based on the use of the Soyuz complex (7K, 9K, 11K) as another option for solving the problems of orbiting the Moon, and also instructed OKB-1 and OKB-52 to work out all the issues use of the UR-500K launch vehicle in the Soyuz complex program.

To fulfill the assignment of the Ministry and the issued instructions, during September-October, a comprehensive assessment of the state of work in OKB-52 and OKB-1 was carried out to implement the tasks of flying around the Moon with the involvement of employees of NII-88 (now TsNIIMASH), the Scientific and Technical Council of the Ministry, the heads of the Ministry, representatives of the government and the Central Committee of the CPSU. During the review, it became clear that OKB-52 is not able to resolve in a timely manner all issues related to the creation and testing of the UR-500 rocket, the rocket booster unit and the LK-1 lunar orbital vehicle. In OKB-1, on the contrary, the state of development of a manned spacecraft of type 7K and upper stage D for the N1-L3 complex was more favorable. This created the basis for the reorientation from OKB-52 to OKB-1 of work on the spacecraft and upper stage D for the flyby of the Moon, including solving a number of problems related to the implementation of the lunar expedition program carried out by the N1-L3 complex.

Flight schedule of 7K-L1 spacecraft (from the beginning of the year):

Flight	Task	date
2P		February March
3P	unmanned flight in highly elliptical orbit	March
4L	unmanned lunar flyby	May
5L	unmanned lunar flyby	June
6L	world's first manned flyby of the Moon	June July
7L	Moon	August
8L	unmanned or manned flyby of the Moon	August
9L	unmanned or manned flyby of the Moon	September
10L	unmanned or manned flyby of the Moon	September
11L	unmanned or manned flyby of the Moon	October
12L	manned lunar flyby	October
13L	reserve

There were turtles on the Zond-5 ship. They became the first living beings in history to return to Earth after flying around the Moon - three months before the Apollo 8 flight.

In the nervous conditions of the “lunar race”, due to the USSR conducting two unmanned flights around the Moon and concealing failures in the L1 program, the United States made a risky rearrangement in its lunar program and made a flyby flight before the previously planned complete testing of the entire Apollo complex in low-Earth orbit. . The Apollo 8 lunar flyby was carried out without a lunar module (which was not yet ready) following the only near-Earth manned orbital flight. This was the first manned launch for the Saturn 5 super-heavy launch vehicle.

The last unmanned flight of the Soyuz-7K-L1 spacecraft, called Zond-8, was made in October, after which the L1 program was finally closed, since the non-stop flight of the Soviet cosmonauts on the Moon after the Americans landed on it twice was lost meaning.

Moon landing (complex N1-L3)

Lunar orbital ship-module LOK (computer graphics)

The main parts of the rocket and space system for landing on the Moon according to the N-1-L3 project were the Soyuz-7K-LOK lunar orbital ship, the LK lunar landing ship and the N1 super-heavy launch vehicle.

The lunar orbital vehicle was very similar and significantly unified with the near-Earth orbital vehicle Soyuz-7K-LOK and also consisted of a descent module, a living compartment, on which a special compartment was located with orientation and mooring engines and a docking system unit, instrumentation and energy compartments, which housed the “I” rocket unit and units of the power supply system based on oxygen-hydrogen fuel cells. The living compartment also served as an airlock during the astronaut’s transition to the lunar spacecraft through outer space (after putting on the Krechet lunar suit).

The crew of the Soyuz-7K-LOK spacecraft consisted of two people. One of them had to go through outer space to the lunar ship and land on the Moon, and the second had to wait for the return of his comrade in lunar orbit.

The Soyuz-7K-LOK spacecraft was installed for unmanned flight tests on the N-1 carrier during its fourth (and last) launch in November, but due to a carrier accident it was never launched into space.

The lunar spacecraft LK consisted of a sealed astronaut cabin, a compartment with orientation engines with a passive docking unit, an instrument compartment, a lunar landing unit (LLA) and a rocket unit E. The LK was powered by chemical batteries installed externally on the LPA frame and in the instrument compartment. The control system was built on the basis of an on-board digital computer and had a manual control system that allowed the astronaut to independently select the landing site visually through a special window. The lunar landing module had four legs - supports with honeycomb absorbers of excessive vertical landing speed.

The lunar spacecraft LK T2K was successfully tested three times in low-Earth orbit in unmanned mode under the names “Cosmos-379”, “Cosmos-398” and “Cosmos-434”, respectively, in November and February and August.

Flight schedule of L3 ships (from the beginning of the year):

Mission	Target	date
3L	mock-ups for testing N1	September
4L	reserve
5L	unmanned LOC and LC	December
6L	unmanned LOC and LC	February
7L		April
8L	Luna as a backup LK-R	June
9L	manned LOC and unmanned LOC	August
10L	manned LOK and LC with the world's first astronaut landing on the Moon	September
11L	manned LOK and unmanned LC with landing on the Moon as a backup LC-R
12L	manned LOK and LC with landing of an astronaut on the Moon
13L	reserve

Even before the launch of the lunar flyby and lunar landing programs in the USSR, technical proposals were developed for the creation and use of the heavy lunar rover L2 and the lunar orbital station L4 in lunar expeditions. Also, after the success of the USA and the curtailment of work on the N1 - L3 program, a new project N1F - L3M to ensure longer-term than American expeditions to the Moon by the year with the prospect of construction on its surface in the 20s. Soviet lunar base "Zvezda", a fairly detailed design of which had already been developed, including models of expeditionary vehicles and manned modules. However, Academician V.P. Glushko, appointed in May 1974 as the general designer of the Soviet space program instead of V.P. Mishin, by his order (with the consent of the Politburo and the Ministry of General Engineering) stopped all work on the H1 launch vehicle and manned lunar programs in the year (formally the program was closed in the year). A later project for Soviet manned flights to the Moon, Vulcan-LEK, was considered, but was also not implemented.

The failure of the Soviet lunar program mainly affected the career of V.P. Mishin, who on May 22 was removed from the post of Chief Designer of TsKBEM. On the same day, a government decree was signed on the transformation of TsKBEM into NPO Energia and on the appointment of V.P. Glushko as its director and chief designer. The first thing Glushko did in his new place was to close the lunar program involving the rocket he hated

In January 1969, the CIA received information from informants in Moscow that the USSR was preparing to carry out special operation with the aim of disrupting the flight of American astronauts to the Moon. The Soviets allegedly intend to help powerful generators electromagnetic radiation cause interference with the on-board electronic equipment of the Apollo spacecraft during its takeoff and lead to disaster. President Richard Nixon ordered the top-secret Operation Crossroads to prevent any suspicious activity by Soviet ships off the coast of the United States during the Apollo launches.

At that time, the “moon race” was nearing its conclusion, and it was already obvious that the United States would win it. In December 1968, F. Borman, J. Lovell and W. Anders made a triumphal flyby of the Moon on Apollo 8. In May 1969, T. Stafford, J. Young and Y. Cernan circled the Moon several times on Apollo 10, working through all stages of undocking and docking, descent and ascent of the lunar cabin, except for landing on the Moon and taking off from it. While in the USSR any launch into space was announced only after the fact, the Americans set the launch days of their ships in advance, inviting the press and television from all over the world. Therefore, everyone already knew that Apollo 11, which would fly to the Moon, was scheduled to launch from the J. Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

The Soviet lunar program was hopelessly behind. When Apollo 8 flew around the Moon, the USSR was just preparing a ship for such a flight, and there was no ship at all for landing on the Moon. After the successful flight of the Americans around the Moon, the Soviet leadership decided to abandon the manned flight of the Moon, which now could not have much effect. But the US administration was not sure that the USSR had decided to simply give up without a fight in the “moon race”, and expected some kind of “dirty trick” from it to prevent the Americans from triumphantly winning it. After all, in the United States, the moon landing became a fixed idea of ​​national prestige for the entire 1960s.

At that time, Soviet electronic reconnaissance ships that plied the world's oceans and intercepted NATO communications signals were disguised as fishing seiners. This trick had long been known to NATO, and they, in turn, constantly monitored the movements of these “fishing fleets” under the red flag. At the beginning of 1969, an increase in the activity of the Soviet fleet was noted near American shores. There were now two Soviet RER ships constantly on duty there, and in May 1969, during the Apollo 10 flight, there were already four. “This is not without reason,” the American intelligence services decided. During the Apollo 11 mission in July, large-scale measures were planned to counter possible “Russian machinations.”

American intelligence agencies believed (or pretended to believe) that the strong electromagnetic pulse, aimed at a taking off rocket, can cause irreparable failure of its equipment and, ultimately, its disaster. Theoretically, this seems possible, although no one has conducted practical experiments of this kind (more precisely, no one has reported them). By the appointed day of takeoff—July 16—US Navy ships and Coast Guard aircraft were put on alert. Seven American troops were on duty in the Cape Canaveral area. submarines. American electronic warfare ships had to, in addition to constantly monitoring the activities of Soviet ships, powerfully interfere with them at different frequencies. Combat ships and aircraft were ordered to open fire if there was any suspicious activity from Soviet ships. President Nixon had before him a prepared draft directive on the use of strategic nuclear forces against the USSR. He had to sign it in the event that Apollo 11 crashed due to the use of electromagnetic superweapons by the Soviets.

The American measures did not seem unnecessary. By the announced day, seven Soviet seiners were already “fishing” off the coast of Florida!

So, the Apollo launch was scheduled for 8:32 a.m. Atlantic time. At exactly 8 a.m., American radars recorded the inclusion of radar equipment on Soviet ships at full power. At 8:05 a.m., an order was received from Washington for the US 2nd Fleet to put everything on full alert. combat systems. At 8:10, American Orion electronic warfare aircraft began flying over Soviet ships, and warships began approaching the seiners in order to be ready to open fire at any moment.

At 8:20, intensive jamming of the equipment of Soviet ships began by creating interference. From 8:32 to 8:41, two stages of the Saturn 5 successfully launched the third stage, along with the Apollo 11 spacecraft, into low-Earth orbit. At 8:45 a.m., the Soviet vessels reduced their radar activity to normal levels. In two minutes American services Electronic warfare received a clear signal. At 8:50 American ships and the planes began to leave the scene.

Since the details of the Soviet operation are classified to this day, no one can say what it was. After all, Soviet RER ships really showed increased activity at this time! If this wasn't an attempt to throw Apollo off course, what could it be? Two versions are put forward.

According to one, Soviet electronic intelligence vessels collected information about the Apollo flight in order to establish whether it really went into space (after all, it is possible that the conspiracy theory about the possibility of staging American flights, so popular today, was born even then!). According to another, the USSR deliberately imitated its activity in order to make the Americans twitch once again. The twitching, by the way, was not cheap for the US budget: the costs of Operation Crossroads amounted to 230 million then dollars - almost 1% of the total cost of the Apollo program. Sometimes they add that information about the special operation being prepared by the Soviets against Apollo was skillful disinformation, specially launched from Moscow. Whether this is so is still anyone's guess.

In reality, the Americans did not land on the Moon and the entire Apollo program was a hoax, conceived with the aim of creating the image of a great state in the United States. The lecturer showed an American film that debunks the legend of astronauts landing on the Moon. The following contradictions seemed especially convincing.

The American flag on the Moon, where there is no atmosphere, flutters as if it were being blown by air currents.

Look at the photo purportedly taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts. Armstrong and Aldrin are the same height, and the shadow of one of the astronauts is one and a half times longer than the other. They were probably illuminated from above by a spotlight, which is why the shadows turned out different lengths like a street lamp. And by the way, who took this photo? After all, both astronauts are in the frame at once.

There are many other technical inconsistencies: the image in the frame does not twitch, the size of the shadow does not coincide with the position of the Sun, etc. The lecturer argued that historical footage of astronauts walking on the Moon was taken in Hollywood, and the corner light reflectors, which were used to determine the parameters of the false landing party, were simply dropped from automatic probes. In 1969-1972, Americans flew to the Moon 7 times. With the exception of the crash flight of Apollo 13, 6 expeditions were successful. Each time, one astronaut remained in orbit, and two landed on the Moon. Each stage of these flights was recorded literally minute by minute, and detailed documentation and logbooks were preserved. More than 380 kg of lunar rock was brought to Earth, 13 thousand photographs were taken, a seismograph and other instruments were installed on the Moon, equipment, a lunar vehicle and a battery-powered self-propelled gun were tested. Moreover, the astronauts found and delivered to Earth a camera from a probe that visited the Moon two years before man. In the laboratory, this camera was used to discover terrestrial streptococcus bacteria that had survived in outer space. This discovery turned out to be important for understanding the fundamental laws of survival and distribution of living matter in the Universe. In America they argue whether Americans have visited the Moon. In principle, nothing surprising, because in Spain, after the return of Columbus, there were also disputes about what new continents he discovered. Such disputes are inevitable until the new land becomes easily accessible to everyone. But only a dozen people have walked on the moon so far. Despite the fact that the USSR did not broadcast live broadcast of Neil Armstrong's first walk on the Moon, our and American scientists collaborated closely in processing the scientific results of the Apollo expeditions. The USSR had a rich photo archive, which was compiled from the results of several flights of the Luna spacecraft, as well as samples of lunar soil. Thus, the Americans had to come to an agreement not only with Hollywood, but also with the USSR, competition with which could become the only argument in favor of the hoax. It should be added that Hollywood at that time had not even heard of computer graphics and simply did not have the technology to fool the whole world. As for the footprint of astronaut Conrad, as they explained to us at the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where samples of lunar soil are being studied, since the lunar regolith is a very loose rock, the imprint must have remained. There is no air on the Moon, the regolith there does not generate dust and does not fly apart, as on Earth, where it immediately turns into swirling dust underfoot. And the flag behaved as it should. Although there is no and cannot be wind on the Moon, any material (wires, cables, cords) that the astronauts deployed, in low gravity conditions under the influence of an imbalance of forces, wriggled for several seconds and then froze. Finally, the strange static nature of the image is explained by the fact that the astronauts did not hold the camera in their hands, like earthly operators, but mounted it on tripods screwed to their chests. The US lunar program could not be a spectacle also because a very high price was paid for it. One of the Apollo crews died during training on Earth, and the Apollo 13 crew returned to Earth without reaching the Moon. And NASA's financial costs of the Apollo program in the amount of $25 billion were subject to repeated verification by numerous audit commissions. The version that the Americans did not fly to the moon is not the first sensation. Now in America an even more exotic legend is growing by leaps and bounds. It turns out (and there is documentary evidence of this) that man did go to the moon. But this was not an American man. And the Soviet one! The USSR sent cosmonauts to the Moon to service its many lunar rovers and instruments. But the USSR did not tell the world anything about these expeditions, because they were suicide cosmonauts. They were not destined to return to their Soviet homeland. American astronauts as if they saw the skeletons of these nameless heroes on the moon. According to specialists from the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where cosmonauts are trained for flight, approximately the same changes will occur to a corpse in a spacesuit on the Moon as to an old can of canned food. There are no decay bacteria on the Moon, and therefore an astronaut cannot turn into a skeleton even if he wants to.

Today is the anniversary of the American landing on the moon. 40 years have passed since this significant event, but controversy still rages over whether it really happened. Meanwhile, the Soviet lunar program is surrounded by a veil of darkness, oblivion and baseless rumors. Many believe that the USSR did not have a lunar program at all. Meanwhile, there was a program, and not even one. The following is a brief popular summary of the two lunar programs of the USSR, whose creation time approximately coincided with the Apollo program.

N1-L3 - Moon landing (1964-1970)

The Lunar Ship (LK) of the N1-L3 program became the device that could be the first to deliver a man to the Moon. This did not happen for various reasons that are not discussed here. Now let's focus on the technical side of the project.

The lunar ship is similar to the Lunar Module (LM) of the Americans' Apollo, although, of course, it differs from it in many ways. The USA used the Saturn-5 launch vehicle, whose engines ran on cryogenic fuel (hydrogen + oxygen), which made it possible to deliver 30% more cargo to the Moon than the N1, which ran on kerosene + oxygen, i.e. less efficient fuel.

Because of this, it was necessary to save on the LM (the mass of the orbital part could not be reduced): it was three times lighter than the American LM. Therefore, the crew of the lunar ship was limited to one person. In addition, there was no transition compartment between the lunar orbital vehicle and the lunar spacecraft: to move from one vehicle to another it was necessary to go into outer space.

Another difference: on Apollo, a separate braking system was used for a soft landing; on the lunar spacecraft, it was combined with a remote control, which ensured launch from the Moon. The lunar ship consisted of four different modules. The first was called the “lunar landing device” (LPU). It was supposed to provide a soft landing on the Moon and be used as a launch pad during takeoff. The second compartment was supposed to ensure the launch from the Moon and the launch of the ship into lunar orbit. The third module, the lunar cabin, was intended to accommodate the astronaut. For precise orientation, a special orientation engine module was used.

Program overview.

On August 3, 1964, the CPSU Central Committee sets a goal for Chief Designer Korolev to land one Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon before the United States delivers its own astronaut to the Moon.

In September 1964, work began on this project. The first option provided for the launch of three super-heavy N1 launch vehicles, which would launch components of the lunar spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. The first module of the spacecraft, weighing 138 tons, was an upper stage. The Moon was reached by a 40-ton module, which, after making several trajectory corrections along the way, was immediately launched to the desired point on the lunar disk for a direct landing.

The safety of the selected location had to be confirmed by the operation of the lunar rover according to the L2 program, which was previously launched to the selected point and carried out detailed studies of the landing site. The Lunokhod was also supposed to be used as a radio beacon for precise orientation of the lunar ship of the L3 program.

So, the 40-ton vehicle was approaching the Moon, at an altitude of 300-400 km the braking engine was turned on, which ensured a soft landing of the LC, whose mass on the surface would be 21 tons. After a 10-day stay on the lunar surface, the cosmonauts in the Soyuz left the Moon and returned to Earth (according to the scheme that was used for L1). The crew consisted of three people. After some time, it becomes clear that although this option is relatively simple, its cost will be prohibitively high. To reduce it, the L3 project is completely changed: it is cheaper and faster to create what the Americans have already begun to implement under the Apollo project: a complex consisting of an orbital part and a landing vehicle.

Now the L3 project takes on the form that practically does not change until the closure of the lunar program. Compared to the previous scheme (with direct landing without separation into orbital and landing modules), the new version differed favorably in its mass. Now one launch of the N1 was enough, although for this it was necessary to increase its payload capacity by 25 tons, which was achieved by reducing the intermediate orbit from 300 to 220 km, increasing the mass of the first stage by 25% (by 350 tons), and stronger cooling of the fuel components ( kerosene and oxygen), an increase in engine thrust at all stages by 2% and a decrease in orbital inclination from 65 ° to 51.8 °). The 91.5-ton L3 complex would be launched into an intermediate low-Earth orbit with an altitude of 220 km and an inclination of 51.8 °. The device could remain here for up to 1 day, during which final preparations were made.

By turning on the upper stage, a 21-ton apparatus was launched to the Moon, which reached it in 3.5 days. During this time, block D was switched on briefly to correct the trajectory. Block D was then turned on at the Moon, transferring the entire apparatus into a lunar orbit at an altitude of 110 km. With its second inclusion near the Moon, migrations (the point of minimum distance from its surface) decreased to 14 km. This block could be launched for possible orbital adjustments several more times over the course of 4 days.

After this, the pilot of the lunar ship went into outer space and checked the serviceability of all external systems and went into the landing vehicle (there was no direct hatch from the orbital module into this compartment). Block D, connected to the landing stage, was disconnected from the lunar orbiter. Block D was used for the last time: it would reduce the vertical speed to 100 m/s, the height above the surface at this moment is 4 km, after which it separates and falls to the Moon. At an altitude of 3 km, the radar altimeter is turned on, which controls the soft landing engine of block E, which was turned on at the same altitude and ensures a smooth contact with the surface.

The fuel supply allowed it to “hover” over the Moon for 50 seconds, at which point the pilot had to make the final decision: to land or not. The choice depended on what kind of relief would be at the intended landing site. If it was unsuitable (for example, it would be filled with large rocks), the astronaut could return to the orbiter and then to Earth, or choose new point, located no further than a few hundred meters from the originally selected location. After landing, the astronaut goes to the surface and plants a flag on it. Soviet Union, takes soil samples and returns to the lunar ship. After a relatively short stay on the Moon (from 6 to 24 hours), part of the LC (LPU - lunar landing device) remains on the surface, and the lunar cabin, after turning on block E, launches from the Moon and docks with the lunar orbital ship. The astronaut again goes into outer space, this time with samples of lunar soil and goes into the orbital vehicle (well, there is no transfer hatch, what can you do about it). The lunar cabin is thrown away.

The ship remains in lunar orbit for about one more day, after which the propulsion system is turned on, transferring the vehicle to the trajectory of return to Earth. During the 3.5 days of flight, two trajectory corrections are carried out to ensure the required angle of entry into the atmosphere. Immediately before the entrance, two astronauts move into the descent module, which flies over south pole and slows down its speed in the atmosphere from 11 km/s to 7.5 km/s, after which it “jumps” back into space and re-enters the landing after several thousand km, already over the territory of the USSR.

Working out the LC

After the design of the lunar ship was developed, testing of its individual components had to begin, after which it was possible to create a working version of the lunar ship. Stands were made that allowed testing individual components in conditions of vacuum, strong vibration, etc. Some parts had to be tested in space.

The following LC mock-ups and test benches were created:

• 
  A full-scale mock-up (by the way, this is the first mock-up of the spacecraft in general) for testing access to the surface of the Moon and into outer space.
• Electric stand. It was used to test the electronics of the spacecraft and the control logic that was supposed to guide the ship near the Moon.
• Electrical layout. It was used to test the placement of electronics on the LC itself.
• Test bench of block E for testing its operation in various conditions.
• Breadboard for testing the antenna.
• Three layouts of block E.
• Landing simulators on which astronauts trained. These included various stands, a specially converted Mi-4 helicopter, etc.

Flight tests of the LC

To practice maneuvers that were to be carried out in lunar orbit, versions of the LOK-LK (lunar orbital ship - lunar ship) complex were developed: T1K and T2K. The first was launched by the Soyuz LV, the second by the Proton LV. During their launches, more than 20 various systems(for example, solar and star sensors of attitude control systems), which were supposed to be used in the lunar program.

During the flights of the T1K vehicles, propulsion systems were tested. The T2K devices were manufactured in quantities of 3 and had the following purposes: during the first flight the propulsion system was tested, during the second flight various emergency situations were simulated, and the third launch was planned to duplicate some tests that might not have been carried out during the first two flights.

The T2K devices were still manufactured with delays; during pre-launch tests at Baikonur, ten microscopic holes were discovered in the first ship, which would have led to the depressurization of the device, but these faults were minor and could be eliminated quickly. The first T2K launched in November 1970, followed by the next two ships. Previously, the program for these test flights was carefully developed; after each maneuver, the resulting telemetry was carefully studied, which made it possible to successfully carry out flights of the devices under this program.

Below is a chronicle of launches:

11/24/1970 - T2K (s/n 1).
Cosmos 379. The device was initially launched into an orbit with an altitude of 233x192 km, after which it was transferred to an orbit with parameters of 196 km x 1206 km by increasing its speed by 263 m/s. This maneuver simulated the operation of block D, which transferred the lunar ship from an orbit of 188 km x 1198 km to an orbit of 177 km x 14 km.

02/26/1971 - T2K (s/n 2).
Cosmos 398. Second test flight of the lunar program. The device was launched into an orbit with an altitude of 189 km x 252 km, after which, during several maneuvers, it moved into an orbit with parameters of 200 km x 10905 km.

08/12/1971 - T2K (s/n 3).
Cosmos 434. The last flight of the T2K series apparatus. The device was launched into an orbit with an altitude of 188 km x 267 km, after which, during several maneuvers, it moved into an orbit with parameters of 180 km x 11384 km.

Death of the lunar ship

The N1-L3 lunar program gradually lost its relevance and significance. This project could not ensure the leadership of the Soviet Union in space, however, there were other reasons for this. It was planned for the Zvezda program to develop a modification of the lunar ship that could deliver not one, but two people to the Moons. However, it turned out that with the mass of the LC being 5500 kg, this was impossible to do. To implement such an idea, it is necessary to create a lunar apparatus completely new.

With the death of Korolev and Yangel, the country is losing outstanding designers capable of completing the program to the end. It ends as quietly as it began: the public learns about the existence of lunar programs in the USSR only in the late 80s. Despite the presence of a lot of other similar programs in our country, only N1-L3 reached the implementation phase, without reaching the end. All that remains of it are models of the lunar spacecraft in the MAI museums (Moscow and St. Petersburg), in the NPO Energia (Korolev) and in the Yuzhnoye design bureau (Dnepropetrovsk).

LK-700 - Moon landing (1964)

Korolev was not the only creator of lunar ships. Vladimir Chelomey, an equally famous designer, begins to create an alternative project. He proposed creating a launch vehicle UR-700, which was capable of launching 50 tons of cargo onto the flight path to the Moon: a spacecraft with a crew of two people.

He felt main danger project N1-L3, which was developed by Korolev. The entire expedition consisted of several stages: spaceship was launched into an intermediate near-Earth orbit, from which it was sent towards the Moon, where it decelerated and entered the orbit of its artificial satellite. After this, the landing module was undocked from the orbital compartment, which landed on the Moon; after some stay on its surface, it took off, docked with the orbital compartment, where the crew moved, after which the lunar module was disconnected, and the astronauts returned in the orbital vehicle, from which just before reaching The descent module with people was separated from the earth, going home.

This scheme was implemented by the Americans during the Apollo program. But such a scheme was quite complex for that time. The spacecraft might not enter lunar orbit, and the landing module might not dock with the orbital compartment. Now docking in space seems like something commonplace, but in the 60s, methods for bringing spacecraft together were just being worked out. Due to the imperfection of the spacecraft during the rendezvous and docking flight, Komarov died (during landing), and the Soviet space program fell behind by several years.

For these reasons, a direct landing on the Moon made a lot of sense at the time. The spacecraft was launched onto a trajectory of direct impact on the desired point of our satellite, and landed without any complex operations. This scheme was less effective, but it was simpler and, therefore, more reliable. There were other advantages too. Now it was possible to land at almost any point on the visible disk of the Moon (more precisely, on 88% of the lunar surface), in contrast to projects using lunar orbiters, which imposed restrictions on the choice of landing site by the inclination of their orbit.

Chelomey creates the UR700-LK700 project, consisting of a powerful heavy launch vehicle and a lunar ship. Its main points were the following facts: long-stored components (hydrazine/nitrogen tetroxide) were used as a fuel/oxidizer, the entire system had to be as simple (and reliable) as possible, the development of the launch vehicle had to be built using already proven technologies. The chosen type of trajectory made it possible to significantly expand the “launch windows” during which the launch could be carried out. In addition, the lunar module in Korolev’s project could dock with the orbital vehicle only if it launched from the Moon at a strictly defined time, deviation from which could be catastrophic. Chelomey's project had no such drawback.

The rocket could be assembled at the cosmodrome from parts delivered by railway(unlike the huge N1, assembled in Baikonur), which somewhat reduced the cost of the project. The crew would consist of two astronauts. Since the launch vehicle could be constantly improved, it was possible in the future to increase the crew to 3 people. For increased reliability, most of the systems were duplicated, and at the launch site an emergency rescue system was used, which managed to remove the capsule with astronauts in the event of destruction or other malfunctions of the launch vehicle. A notable aspect of the project was that the UR-700 could be used for many other purposes, for example, for launching components into low-Earth orbit orbital stations. Do not forget that today's "workhorse" of Russia, "Proton", is Chelomeev's UR-500, i.e. from the same series as the UR-700. Maybe if this project had been implemented, we would now have a unique medium.

But let's return to the lunar topic. The mass of the LK-700 lunar spacecraft in a near-Earth intermediate orbit at an altitude of 200 km would be 151 tons. At this moment its total length would be 21.2 meters. The LK-700 itself would consist of several parts. The first part is the upper stage, which ensured the launch of the entire complex to the Moon; its mass would be 101 tons. The second part provided braking near the Moon, providing almost zero speed at an altitude of several kilometers above the Moon. The mass of the braking part was 37.5 tons. The third part was the landing apparatus itself, which landed on the surface.

Due to the special structure of the lunar compartment, six long, unique skis were used as supports. This made it possible to land with high vertical (up to 5 m/s) and horizontal speeds (up to 2 m/s) on a surface with an inclination of up to 15 degrees. After contact with the Moon, the landing module was leveled: each support had an electric motor, which ensured the desired alignment.

After working on the surface, the spacecraft (weighing already 9.3 tons) with the crew was launched into an intermediate lunar orbit or onto a direct return trajectory. Landing on Earth was carried out in the same way as in the L1 or Apollo projects. The device entered the Earth's atmosphere at the second escape velocity (11 km/s) over Antarctica, “jumped” out of the atmosphere and re-entered it in a given area of ​​the Soviet Union. The descent vehicle would weigh 1.5-2 tons.

The UR-700-LK700 project was presented on November 16, 1966 to the commission headed by Keldysh as an alternative to the N1-L3 project, which was led by Korolev and Mishin. And although Glushko supported Chelomey, and not Korolev, who, unfortunately, was dying at this time, nevertheless, the N1-L3 project remains more important than the UR-700. In general, it was planned to carry out five flights of the UR-700/LK-700; after two unmanned ones, three manned expeditions were to follow. It was assumed that when funding began in 1968, in the second quarter of 1969, cosmonauts would begin training under this program; design would have been completed in 1970 prototype lunar spacecraft, testing of which was completed by 1971, the first LK-700 (lunar module) and UR-700 (launch vehicle) would have been ready in November of the same year. In May 1972, the first unmanned launch could take place, the second unmanned flight was planned to take place in November of the same year, a possible third - in April 1973. In the same month, the first manned flight was already possible, which were planned to be repeated in August and October of the same year. If the project had been opened, say, in 1961, then perhaps we would have been ahead of the Americans.

taken from http://kuasar.narod.ru