The LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complex was a lunar expedition and
Moon base
A moonbase (or lunar base) is a human outpost on or below the surface of the Moon. More than a mere site of activity or temporary camp, moonbases are extraterrestrial bases, supporting robotic or human activity, by providing surface infrastructu ...
proposed by
Valentin Glushko
Valentin Petrovich Glushko (; ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989) was a Soviet engineer who was program manager of the Soviet space program from 1974 until 1989.
Glushko served as a main designer of rocket engines in the Soviet progra ...
in 1974 as a
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
response to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
'
Apollo program
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...
and as a successor to the
Zvezda moonbase, which was based on the cancelled
N1-L3 crewed Moon expedition program. If implemented, it was intended to have been operational by 1980 and used for scientific and engineering research.
Hardware
The Vulkan-LEK project was based on new superheavy launcher developed in Glushko's bureau.
The moonbase design consisted of a number of modules, including:
*
Lunokhod
Lunokhod ( rus, Луноход, p=lʊnɐˈxot, "Moonwalker") was a series of Soviet robotic lunar rovers designed to land on the Moon between 1969 and 1977. Lunokhod 1 was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on an extraterrestrial ...
, an 8-
ton
Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean:
* the '' long ton'', which is
* the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...
pressurized
lunar rover
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration Rover (space exploration), vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, ...
to be used to build the base and for expeditions.
* The LZM ("Laboratory-Factory Module"), a 15.5-ton pressurized module to be used for
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
production and scientific experiments.
* The LZhM ("Laboratory-Habitation Module"), 21.5-ton habitation module where
cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
s were to reside.
* A
nuclear power station
A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
to provide electricity.
* A simple transport vehicle to ferry supplies to and from a
lunar orbit
In astronomy and spaceflight, a lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is an orbit by an object around Earth's Moon. In general these orbits are not circular. When farthest from the Moon (at apoapsis) a spacecraft is said to be at apo ...
.
Project termination
The project was cancelled in 1976 when a
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
Commission ruled that resources should be targeted toward projects primarily adding economic value rather than for national prestige.
See also
*
Zvezda (moonbase)
Zvezda moonbase (, ''"star"''), also called DLB Lunar Base, was a Soviet Union, Soviet plan and project from 1962 to 1974 to construct a crewed moonbase as successor to the Soviet crewed lunar programs, N1-L3 human lunar expedition program. Zvez ...
*
Soviet Moonshot
The Soviet crewed lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to land humans on the Moon, in competition with the United States Apollo program. The Soviet government publicly denied participating in such a competitio ...
*
Space race
The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...
References
External links
the LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complexat astronautix.com.
at russianspaceweb.com.
Colonization of the Moon
Soviet lunar program
{{space-stub