Soviet Manned Lunar Programs - Moon Landing N1/L3 Program

Moon Landing N1/L3 Program

The final plan for a manned landing adopted the same method of single launch and lunar orbit rendezvous as the Apollo project, but had differences in some details and technical data. Despite the fact that the planned Soviet Moon expedition was carried at a single launch like Apollo, for mission safety, some two to three weeks before at least the first manned missions, an LK-R in unmanned L3 complex and two Lunokhod automated moon rovers would be sent to the Moon. They worked as radio beacons for manned LK, with the LK-R being used as a reserve "escape" craft to return from the Moon, and the Lunokhods were additionally equipped with manual controls for the cosmonauts for transfer to LK-R in necessity and for regular researches both.

The N1 rocket carried the L3 Moon expedition complex that consisted of two spacecraft (LOK and LK) and two (Block G and Block D) boosters.

A variant of the Soyuz craft, the "Lunniy Orbitalny Korabl" (LOK) command ship, carried two men, and consisted of three modules like the regular Soyuz 7K-OK, but was heavier by a few tons. The 7K-OK was half the mass of the three-man Apollo orbital craft (command ship). The "Lunniy Korabl" (LK) carried one cosmonaut, so in the Soviet expedition one cosmonaut alone would land on Moon, while in Apollo two would. The mass of the LK was 40% the mass the Apollo lunar lander.

The total mass of the L3 complex placed in LEO by the N1 was 93 tons compared to Saturn V's 137 tons. The total mass of the LOK and LK was 40% of the full Apollo complex, but was equivalent to the L3 complex without Block G. The booster for the LEO toward the Moon for the Apollo vehicle was provided by the last stage of the Saturn V, while for the Block D, LOK and LK, this was to be provided by Block G of the same L3 complex.

During the L3 complex's journey to the Moon, there was no need to undock and redock the orbital and landing craft as in Apollo, because the cosmonaut would transfer from the LOK to LK by a "spacewalk", while in Apollo this operation was executed by an internal passage.

Block D slowed the LOK and LK into lunar orbit, while in the Apollo complex this phase was undertaken by firing the engine on the service module (the Apollo complex traveled with the Command Module and Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) facing back towards the Earth) to slow the complex and enter lunar orbit.

Once in orbit, the LK with Block D would separate from the LOK and descend toward the surface of Moon using the Block D engine. After Block D exhausted its fuel, the LK was to separate and complete landing using its own engine.

On the Moon, the cosmonaut would undertake moonwalks on foot and by Lunokhods, collecting rocks and plant the Soviet flag.

After a few hours on the lunar surface, the LK's engine would fire again using its landing structure as a launch pad, as with Apollo. To save weight, the engine used for landing would also blast the LK back to lunar orbit for an automated docking with the LOK. The cosmonaut then would spacewalk back to the LOK carrying the Moon rock samples, with the LK being cast off. After this, the LOK would fire its rocket for the return to Earth.

After the US won the final (Moon-landing) phase and the whole of the Moon Race in 1969, the justification for the Soviet lunar landing program evaporated, although development and testing continued into the early 1970s. In 1970–1971 the LK was completely ready after three unmanned test flights on LEO (Kosmos 379, Kosmos 398, Kosmos 434), and the LOK was launched once (Kosmos 382 aka 7K-L1E dummy of 7K-LOK). The Krechet lunar spacesuit and other support systems were tested.

Four N1 test launches were attempted in 1969, 1971, and 1972 and all were failures, despite engineering improvements after each crash. The second launch attempt on 3 July 1969, just 13 days prior to the launch of Apollo 11, was a catastrophic failure which destroyed both the rocket and the launch complex, and this delayed the N1-L3 program for two years more. For automatic Moon flyby, at these two first launches the N1 carried the 7K-L1S spacecrafts (modified 7K-L1), while dummy 7K-LOK (7K-L1E) and regular 7K-LOK with dummy LKs at both were at third and fourth launches.

Subsequently, the complete L3 lunar expedition complex with regular 7K-LOK and regular LK for Moon flyby and landing by full unmanned mission of future manned scenario was prepared for fifth launch of modified N1 rocket on August, 1974. If this and one subsequent mission had been successful, up to five Soviet manned N1-L3 expeditions would have been launched in 1976–1980.

Also, to gain technical and scientific interest in the program, the modified multi-launched N1F-L3M missions with significantly more time spent on the Moon's surface than with Apollo.

But N1-L3 (as well as N1F-L3M) program was cancelled on May, 1974, and Soviet manned space efforts subsequently concentrated on the development of space stations and on several design and ground preparatory processes for a Mars mission, which continues to the present day, but has unclear objectives.

Laterly proposed moonbase Zvezda, first detailed such project with developed mockups of expedition vehicles and surface modules, and "Vulkan-LEK" project were not adopted for economic reasons. As some recompense and as a replacement for the manned landing program, the Soviets fulfilled a program of automated delivery of lunar soil and Lunokhods automated moon rovers.

The launch pad and MIK of N1 was redesigned for the Energia-Buran shuttle program. At least five LKs and three LOKs in various states of construction remain with some units being kept in the designer's and producer's company museums. Near 150 engines produced for first stages of N1F were kept by manufacturer (Kuznetsov Design Bureau) and sold at XX/XXI centuries boundary for use on US launchers.