Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
The Soviet moon landing is canceled!
On December 8, 1968, the Soviet space authorities felt compelled to finally shelve the manned moon landing that had been planned for 1968.
At first everything looked good on the drawing board: The launch vehicle from
Type H-1, which would have been even more powerful than the "Saturn 5" used by the USA for its moon flights...:
The landing module "A-3 (TLK 2-K), much smaller than the USA variant, but easier to control in flight...
...as well as the L-3 (7K-LOK) spacecraft, also significantly smaller than the "Apollo" spacecraft used by the USA...:
Unlike the "Apollo" capsule, which fits three men (two of them, Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the moon, one (Grissom) stayed on board and monitored the spacecraft), the Soviets only plan on using two people, one of whom one is supposed to land on the moon - the spaceship and landing module could be designed correspondingly smaller...:
The Soviets had planned three flights to the moon in 1967 and 1968, the third - planned for autumn 1968 - was to make the landing.
Even the suit for the "moon walk" was already ready...:
But the Soviets have had their technical lead in space travel since the successful "Sputnik" satellite (1957)...
... and the first man in space (Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Gagarin, 1961)...
... long since lost, which is less due to the existing technical skills than to the enormous difficulties in procuring the materials and their horrendous costs!
The technical difficulties of the moon landing program, which began in 1960 - as in the USA - are enormous (the Soviet budget is only one-fifth of the US budget).
The main problem is the H-1 rocket: it explodes on all four test launches - not one gets into orbit!
In addition, the cosmonaut designated (and trained) as the commander for the moon landing, the two-time "Hero of the Soviet Union" colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov dies...
...on April 24, 1967 in a plane crash in the Orenburg region...:
After falling hopelessly behind in terms of time (none of the three flights ever took place!), those responsible pull the ripcord on December 4, 1968 in the "Manned Moon Landing Project" because they now see a failure of the mission with a corresponding loss of prestige as more likely than a failure Success.
At this point in time, the USA had already carried out several successful "Apollo" missions into lunar orbit and the first manned moon landing was already in sight.
The "Glawnij Vrag" ("main enemy", as the Russian term for the USA was in the "Cold War") can no longer be beaten in terms of time - also a reason for the termination of the Soviet moon landing program.
The Soviets don't want to be "only" second!
It is also decided to concentrate on space technology on the construction of manned space stations (such as the "Mir") and on missile defense in the military field.
The Americans will land on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969...
On December 8, 1968, the Soviet space authorities felt compelled to finally shelve the manned moon landing that had been planned for 1968.
At first everything looked good on the drawing board: The launch vehicle from
Type H-1, which would have been even more powerful than the "Saturn 5" used by the USA for its moon flights...:
The landing module "A-3 (TLK 2-K), much smaller than the USA variant, but easier to control in flight...
...as well as the L-3 (7K-LOK) spacecraft, also significantly smaller than the "Apollo" spacecraft used by the USA...:
Unlike the "Apollo" capsule, which fits three men (two of them, Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the moon, one (Grissom) stayed on board and monitored the spacecraft), the Soviets only plan on using two people, one of whom one is supposed to land on the moon - the spaceship and landing module could be designed correspondingly smaller...:
The Soviets had planned three flights to the moon in 1967 and 1968, the third - planned for autumn 1968 - was to make the landing.
Even the suit for the "moon walk" was already ready...:
But the Soviets have had their technical lead in space travel since the successful "Sputnik" satellite (1957)...
... and the first man in space (Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Gagarin, 1961)...
... long since lost, which is less due to the existing technical skills than to the enormous difficulties in procuring the materials and their horrendous costs!
The technical difficulties of the moon landing program, which began in 1960 - as in the USA - are enormous (the Soviet budget is only one-fifth of the US budget).
The main problem is the H-1 rocket: it explodes on all four test launches - not one gets into orbit!
In addition, the cosmonaut designated (and trained) as the commander for the moon landing, the two-time "Hero of the Soviet Union" colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov dies...
...on April 24, 1967 in a plane crash in the Orenburg region...:
After falling hopelessly behind in terms of time (none of the three flights ever took place!), those responsible pull the ripcord on December 4, 1968 in the "Manned Moon Landing Project" because they now see a failure of the mission with a corresponding loss of prestige as more likely than a failure Success.
At this point in time, the USA had already carried out several successful "Apollo" missions into lunar orbit and the first manned moon landing was already in sight.
The "Glawnij Vrag" ("main enemy", as the Russian term for the USA was in the "Cold War") can no longer be beaten in terms of time - also a reason for the termination of the Soviet moon landing program.
The Soviets don't want to be "only" second!
It is also decided to concentrate on space technology on the construction of manned space stations (such as the "Mir") and on missile defense in the military field.
The Americans will land on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969...
