7K-L1 Circum-Lunar - Flights
The flight test program for the 7K-L1 (11F91, Zond) ship provided for 10 unmanned launches, then the first manned flight of the Moon, scheduled for June 26, 1968. Later, the flight design test schedule changed many times. Nine attempts were made to launch a 7K-L1 ship on the lunar track. Since the Soviet program for the preparation of the manned flight of the Moon was carried out in an environment of the utmost secrecy, the ships that left the track were given the open name "Zond" in the open press. Unsuccessful launches were not reported at all. There is no clarity on the question of exactly which biological "stuffing" was in the CA of each of the ships being launched.
The flight-design tests of the L-1 spacecraft with the D upper stage on the UR500K rocket-carrier began on March 10, The purpose of launching a simplified version of the L-1 spacecraft, which this time received the name Cosmos-146, was the testing of the D block. The first inclusion of the "D" block for the ship's extrusion into the Earth's orbit was successful, but because of malfunctions in the control system of the unit, the second inclusion led to a deviation of the ship from the calculated trajectory. The apogee was raised, but the perigee fell, and the ship on the second day of the flight braked and entered the atmosphere.
The second L-1 spacecraft, Cosmos-154, was launched on April 8, 1967, but it was not possible to send it to the Moon. This time, due to a failure in the control system, an early discharge of the small engine blocks occurred, ensuring the launch of the DU block "D" and it remained in orbit of the satellite.
And only in September 1967, when launches of full-fledged ships 7K-L1 began, turtle, Drosophila, larvae of Khrushchaks (flour worms), seedlings, sowing material, bacteria and other "small" passengers could take their place in the ship. The first attempt to send a full-fledged ship 7K-L1 No. 4 to the lunar track was undertaken on 28 September 1967, However, during the launch of the first stage of the Proton-K LV, because of the factory marriage, one of the LPREs did not start. Consequently, on the 95th second of the flight, the emergency rescue system (SAS) was activated, successfully returning the SA to Earth. This was the first case in the Soviet practice of triggering the SAS at the stage of elimination. If in the SA of the ship there were living organisms, they should return to the Earth unscathed.
The next attempt to launch "L-1" on November 22, 1967, too, was unsuccessful. This time, one of the four engines of the second stage of the launch vehicle did not gain the necessary thrust. Successfully worked CAS, which led the descent vehicle from the missile complex. When descending on a parachute due to a false altimeter command at a high altitude, the soft landing engines unexpectedly triggered. The launch of the ship 7K-L1 No. 5 took place on November 22, 1967. The first stage worked fine this time, but out of the four engines of the second stage only three came out on the regime. At 130th second CAC worked again. However, this time, due to a false altimeter command at an altitude of 4.5 km, the soft rocket landed soft rocket landed. In what state was the CA after landing - it is unknown.
Another attempt to launch the ship 7K-L1 No. 7 was made on April 23, 1968. The first stage worked without remarks, but already at the stage of operation of the second stage, due to a short circuit in one of the control system blocks of the ship, a false command "Emergency of the autonomous control system" passed. Because of this, on the 195th second of the flight, CAC worked, ensuring the normal return of the SA to Earth.
The launch of the ship 7K-L1 No. 8 was scheduled for July 21, 1968. But on July 14, when the launch vehicle with the ship was already installed at the launch complex, the oxidizer tank of the pre-emption unit burst due to an uncharged charging regime, and kerosene accounting was started. Thanks to the selfless actions of specialists and the combat calculation of the complex, it was possible to prevent an explosion that could destroy both the launch vehicle and the launch pad itself.
Finally, on September 15, 1968 the ship L-1 (Zond-5) was successfully put on the flight trajectory to the Moon, photographed its surface.
On September 14, 1968, the ship 7K-L1 No.9, which was named "Zond-5", was launched. 67 minutes after the start, engine D was turned on, and the ship was taken to the lunar track. The flight to the Moon and its flight on Sept. 18 at a distance of about 1960 km was successful, and in seven days the ship for the first time in the world returned to Earth with the 2nd space velocity. During the flight, the Earth was photographed from a distance of 85,000 km. On the way back, due to an error of the operators, the gyroplatform has failed because of heating, and the sensor for orientation to the stars and the Sun has also failed. The autonomous control system was not switched on in time, which led to the jamming of the power stabilization engine. Correction of the trajectory was carried out with the help of orientation micromotors and the Earth sensor, which allowed the SA to descend along a ballistic trajectory into the Indian Ocean. On board were two turtles.
On November 10, 1968, the ship 7K-L1 No. 12 ("Zond-6"), which after receiving a successful launch to the Moon, was named "Zond-6". On November 14, the ship flew the moon at a distance of 2415 km from the surface and photographed it twice - from a distance of 9000 km and at the closest rapprochement. Upon the return of the ship, the CA body was depressurized to 380 mm Hg. Other malfunctions were noted, but this did not prevent the first time to make a controlled descent in the Earth's atmosphere using aerodynamic quality and to land on the territory of the Soviet Union. But already at the last stage of the flight, due to the depressurization of the parachute container, a "corona discharge" arose, leading to the issuance by the altimeter of a false command to shoot strands of the parachute system at an altitude of 5300 meters. SA of the ship fell on the territory of the Baikonur cosmodrome in 16 km from the launch pad (there were no such cases before or after). The corps of the CA during the fall was crushed and torn, all the biological objects on board the ship were lost. Nevertheless, from the cassettes of the camera aboard the SA, it was possible to extract the film and for the first time to obtain high-quality color photographs of the Earth and the Moon from space.
Specialists of the management group and developers, using a single-functioning optical device - the solar sensor 99K, for almost 20 hours continuously issued sequential one-time radio commands, swinging the device from one side to the other, so that the resulting thrust of the two engines is directed toward the Earth. Alternately, including small engines for orienting the URMD of the executive system of the right and left sides of the ship, they gradually gained the necessary corrective impulse, ensuring that the ship entered the specified corridor of heights when entering the Earth's atmosphere. Nevertheless, the landing of the ship in a regular area in Kazakhstan was not possible, and it was decided to use a variant with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
September 21, 1968 at 18 hours 54 minutes Moscow time, "Zond-5" entered the Earth's atmosphere and at 19 hours 8 minutes Moscow time, was wrecked in the waters of the Indian Ocean at the coordinates of 32 degrees. 38 min. and 65 deg. 33 min. Thus, the Soviet spacecraft with living beings for the first time in the world flying around the Moon, successfully returned to Earth. The vessels of the Academy of Sciences and the Navy of the USSR approached the spacecraft with the means of evacuating the descent vehicle.
Early on the morning of September 22, the ship was discovered by the Scientific Research Ship (NIS) of the USSR Academy of Sciences "Borovichi", and moored to the boat descended from the ship. Only about 12 o'clock Moscow time the trawling operation ended, and on the third attempt the SA was brought aboard the Soviet ship of the expedition oceanographic vessel (EOS) Vasily Golovin. On October 3, 1098, the SA of the ship was delivered to Bombay, from where he was flown to Moscow by plane. Turtles were extracted from the SA already in Moscow in the workshop of TsKBEM and entered the disposal of scientists.
The ship 7K-L1 No. 11, known as the "Zond-7", was launched on August 8, 1969. On August 11, he circled the moon at a distance of 1230 km from the surface and photographed the Earth and the Moon several times. The flight passed practically without any remarks, and on August 14, having completed a successful controlled descent in the Earth's atmosphere, the SA landed to the south of the city of Kustanai, not reaching the estimated point of only about 47 km. According to some reports, four tortoises were placed in the CA, and not two, as before. In addition, the anthropomorphic mannequin FM-2, intended for radiological studies, was first placed in the ship of this ship. This was the only fully successful flight of the KK 7K-L1 with landing on Soviet territory.
Before Apollo 8, the furthest anyone had been from Earth was about 850 miles (1600 kilometers). Apollo 8 increased that distance to nearly a quarter of a million miles. Its three crew members were the first human beings to fly to the Moon or to anywhere beyond low Earth orbit. This mission also marked the first time that anyone rode atop a Saturn V, the enormous multi-stage rocket built specifically to propel crewed spacecraft to the Moon. The Saturn V was as high as a 36-story building, more powerful than 85 Hoover Dams, and consisted of three million parts that all had to function reliably. There had been only two test launches of this massive vehicle, the most recent of which — the unmanned Apollo 6 mission four months earlier — had suffered several major malfunctions.
But Apollo 8 went up without a hitch. Apollo 8 launched from Cape Kennedy on Dec. 21, 1968. The astronauts began orbiting the Moon on 24 December 1968 and became the first humans to see firsthand the mysterious far side, the face of the Moon which always points away from Earth. During a broadcast on Christmas Eve, they read aloud the Biblical account of creation from the book of Genesis. All telecasts were of excellent quality. Voice communications also were exceptionally good throughout the mission.
On 23 December 1968, "Uncle Mitya" summoned the leadership of the "yellow house" - this is how management called Ustinov and the Ministry of General Machine Building [MOM] headquarters building on Miusskaya Square. By the echoes that reached us by evening, the conversation was reduced to standard questions-instructions: "How will we respond to the Americans?"
Deputy Minsiter Viktor Litvinov, who came to the gathering after meeting with the Central Committee, said: "... the Americans have borrowed from us the main method of work - the planned management and network graphics. They have bypassed us in management and planning methods. They pre-announce the schedule for the preparation of the launch and strictly adhere to it. They actually implemented the principle of democratic centralism - free discussion, and then the strictest discipline in implementation. We, according to Ustinov, have blossomed. We returned to the times of feudalism. Each ministry is its own feudal principality. Chief designers instead of friendly work take an aggressive position in relations with each other, even stop listening to their ministers."
Thus, the continuation of the manned space flight program of the Moon "UR500K-L1" lost its political meaning, but it was considered inexpedient to stop the flight-design tests of the already manufactured and financed ships.
During the next launch of the ship 7K-L1 # 13, which took place on January 20, 1969 at the 313th second of the flight, shortly before the end of the work of the second stage of the launch vehicle, a turbo pump of one of the LPREs ignited. The stage was successfully separated, however, at the 500th second of the flight, the third stage DN stopped operating. At the 608th second of the flight, CAC worked, which successfully returned the SA to Earth.
Thus, a successful flight around the moon with a safe return to Earth was made by three ships: 7K-L1 N9, 7K-L1 N11 and 7K-L1 N1 Another ship - 7K-L1 No. 12, safely flew the Moon, The failure of the parachute system was damaged during landing.
The last launch of the lunar ship L-1 No. 14 took place on October 20, 1970. The ship, received the designation "Zond-8", on October 24 successfully flew the Moon at a distance of about 1200 km. However, on returning through the North Pole due to the failure of the solar orientation sensor, the ship moved to a ballistic descent into the Indian Ocean and faded 730 km southeast of Chagos Island. Search and rescue of the SA was carried out by the ships of the Search and Rescue Service (SPS) of the Navy. The ship was discovered by the vessel "Taman", which caught it and delivered it to Bombay.
Two more ships "L1" fully equipped for a manned flight and remained on Earth. The ship 7K-L1 No. 8 was never launched, and the ship 7K-L1 No. 10 was converted into a simplified analog of the lunar orbiter (LOK), called 7K-L1S, which was to be used in the first launch of the H-1 missile.
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