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Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" spacecraft was designed to launch
cosmonauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserve ...
from the Earth to circle the Moon without going into lunar orbit in the context of the Soviet crewed Moon-flyby program in the
Moon 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 ...
. It was based on the
Soyuz 7K-OK Soyuz 7K-OK was the first generation of Soyuz spacecraft and was flown between 1967 and 1971. The 7K-OK was used for the first ferry flights to the Salyut space station program, beginning a long history of space station service that continue ...
. Several modifications reduced vehicle mass and increased circumlunar capability. The most notable modifications were the replacement of the orbital module with a support cone and a high-gain parabolic antenna, the removal of a reserve parachute, and the addition of the gyro platform and star navigation sensors for the far space navigation. The spacecraft was capable of carrying two
cosmonauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserve ...
. At the start of flight testing, there were serious reliability problems with the new
Proton rocket Proton (, formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use , making it ...
, the 7K-L1, and the Soyuz 7K-OK that the L1 was based on.


History

Chief Designer
Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
had originally envisioned a crewed lunar spacecraft launched in pieces by R-7 boosters and assembled in Earth orbit. The development of
Vladimir Chelomei Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey or Chelomei (, ; 30 June 1914 – 8 December 1984) was a Soviet engineer and designer in the missile program of the former Soviet Union. He invented the first Soviet pulse jet engine and was responsible for develo ...
's large UR-500 booster theoretically made it possible to do the job in a single launch. However, Chelomei also proposed his own, competing for lunar spacecraft, the LK-1, and Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
gave his approval in August 1964. Two months later, Khrushchev was expelled from power and Chelomei lost his principal patron. At the end of the year, Korolev revived his proposal for the Soyuz spacecraft but concealed his true intentions by billing it as an Earth orbital vehicle for testing rendezvous and docking maneuvers. In October 1965, a mere three months before his death, Korolev was granted official approval for developing a crewed lunar spacecraft, which would be a modified Soyuz. This would be launched towards the Moon on a
UR-500 Proton (, formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use , making it ...
topped with the
Blok D Blok D () is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems, including the N1, Proton-K and Zenit. The stage (and its derivatives) has been included in more than 320 launched rockets . By 2002 its modification Bl ...
stage under development by the
OKB-1 S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, th ...
Bureau. Korolev originally intended to piece together the lunar Soyuz in Earth orbit because he did not believe the
UR-500 Proton (, formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use , making it ...
was powerful enough to launch the full vehicle or that it wouldn't be safe for the crew. However, when he died in January 1966, his successor as head of OKB-1,
Vasily Mishin Vasily Pavlovich Mishin (; 18 January 1917 – 10 October 2001) was a Russian engineer in the former Soviet Union, and a prominent rocket pioneer, best remembered for the failures in the Soviet space program that took place under his management. ...
, argued that it was definitely possible to strip down the Soyuz enough to launch it with the UR-500. With the first four uncrewed test starts (see below) being partially successful or unsuccessful, including two under the common open name " Kosmos" as for any Soviet test spacecraft, the mission of 2–7 March 1968 and subsequent ones were the flights of the L1 spacecraft under the open designation " Zond" that were given by Soviets for test missions to far space. After the successful United States
Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...
crewed flight around the Moon, the Soviet crewed Moon-flyby missions lost political motivation. The first crewed flight of the L1/Zond spacecraft with
Alexei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut and aviator, Soviet Air Forces, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a Extravehic ...
and
Valery Bykovsky Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (; 2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37. Early life and career Born in Pavlovs ...
planned for the end of 1970 was cancelled. In addition, the Proton booster was far from being
human-rated Human-rating certification, also known as man-rating or crew-rating, is the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as capable of safely transporting humans. There is no one particular standard for human-rating a spacecraft or launch veh ...
and its poor launch record made it undesirable for crewed flights. All L1/Zond spacecraft made only uncrewed flights from 1967 to 1970, from (
Zond 4 Zond 4, part of the Soviet Zond program and an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft, was one of the first Soviet experiments towards crewed circumlunar spaceflight. It was launched to test the spaceworthiness of the ne ...
to
Zond 8 Zond 8, also known as L-1 No.14, was the last in the series of circumlunar spacecraft, a member of the Soviet Zond program, designed to rehearse a piloted circumlunar flight, an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed circumlunar flight spacec ...
), and four of these five Zond flights suffered malfunctions. Test flights conducted around the Moon showed problems using their star sensors for navigation. These problems caused ballistic reentry due to failed guidance. One direct descent re-entry was performed on a steep ballistic trajectory with a deceleration of up to 20 Gs and splashed down in the Indian Ocean. Three others performed a maneuver known as "
skip reentry Non-ballistic atmospheric entry is a class of atmospheric entry trajectories that follow a non-ballistic trajectory by employing aerodynamic lift in the high upper atmosphere. It includes trajectories such as skip and glide. Skip is a flight tr ...
" to shed velocity. One of those also performed an unsafe (for humans) descent of up to 20 Gs of deceleration, the other suffered main parachute failure, and only one flight -
Zond 7 The Zond 7 spacecraft, part of the Soviet Zond program, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969. Its mission was to support studies of the Moon and circumlunar space, to obtain color photography of Earth and the ...
- would have been safe for cosmonauts. Instrumentation flown on these missions gathered data on micrometeor flux, solar and
cosmic ray Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the ...
s,
magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...
s, radio emissions, and
solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer, the Stellar corona, corona. This Plasma (physics), plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy betwee ...
. Many photographs were taken and biological payloads were also flown.
Zond 5 Zond 5 () was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 it became the first spaceship to travel to and circle the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory, the first Moon mission to include animals, and the first to return safely to Ea ...
was the first spacecraft to carry a group of terrestrial creatures (tortoises being the most complex) on a circumlunar flight and return them relatively safely to Earth. Zond 5 splashed down in the Indian Ocean after descending steeply with a 20 G deceleration rate. Although unsafe for humans, these high Gs apparently didn't affect the tortoises' health, and they were reportedly able to breed afterward.http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/numbers/252/43.shtml (in Russian) Two modifications of main Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" version was created: the powered (up to 7000 kg mass)
Soyuz 7K-L1S Zond L1S-1 was a Zond capsule to be placed into orbit around the Moon by the first launch of the N1, a Soviet-made super heavy-lift launch vehicle designed to land crewed Soviet spacecraft on the Moon. The Zond capsule was equipped with a dummy ...
"Zond-M" that were failed attempted to launch for Moon flyby on
N1 rocket The N1 (from , "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Mo ...
two times due to
Soyuz 7K-LOK The Soyuz 7K-LOK, or simply LOK ( meaning "Lunar Orbital Craft") was a Soviet crewed spacecraft designed to take humans from Earth to orbit the Moon, developed in parallel to the 7K-L1. The LOK would carry two cosmonauts, acting as a mother ship ...
orbital ship-module of L3 lunar expedition complex was not ready; the
Soyuz 7K-L1E Soyuz 7K-L1E was a Soviet uncrewed modified Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft. Also called a dummy Soyuz 7K-LOK. Two were built, one Soyuz 7K-L1E was successfully launched into Low Earth Orbit on Proton rocket and is known as Kosmos 382. The other Soyuz 7 ...
"Zond-LOK" as dummy mockup of Soyuz 7K-LOK and were successfully launched on
Low Earth Orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...
on
Proton rocket Proton (, formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use , making it ...
as Kosmos 382 and failed launched for Moon orbiting on third
N1 rocket The N1 (from , "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Mo ...
. No official name for crewed Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" was adopted. According to Mishin's and Kamanin's memoirs, the names "Rodina" (''motherland''), "Ural" ('' Ural mountains''), "Akademik Korolyov" (''academician Korolyov''). Also, "Zarya" (''dawn'') and "Znamya" (''banner'') were proposed for both lunar Soyuz 7K-L1 flyby and
Soyuz 7K-LOK The Soyuz 7K-LOK, or simply LOK ( meaning "Lunar Orbital Craft") was a Soviet crewed spacecraft designed to take humans from Earth to orbit the Moon, developed in parallel to the 7K-L1. The LOK would carry two cosmonauts, acting as a mother ship ...
orbital ships. The
information display systems "Information display systems" (IDS) is the general designation for the control panels and displays of Russian (and previous Soviet) spacecraft. For example, the original Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft used the "Sirius-7k" IDS. {, class="wikitable sortabl ...
(IDS) on the L1 was called "Saturn" and featured some differences from the standard 7K-OK "Sirius-7K" IDS. Along with the remaining 7K-L1S, the Soviet Moon-flyby program was closed in 1970 without the achievement of its crewed primary goal. The intended crewed use of L1/Zond spacecraft was documented in official Soviet sources for the first time but from 1968 until 1989 this and the Moon-landing
N1-L3 The Soviet crewed lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to Moon landing, land humans on the Moon, Space Race, in competition with the United States Apollo program. The Soviet government publicly denied participat ...
programs were classified and the Soviet government denied the existence of both. Near 1968 a rare open Soviet source ( Big Soviet Encyclopedia's Yearbook, Kosmonavtika small encyclopedia) sporadically referred to Zonds as tests of ''space ships'' for lunar missions in contrast to the ''space apparate'' term used by the Soviets for spacecraft not capable of carrying a crew.


Planned schedule

As of 1967, the Soyuz 7K-L1 launch schedule was: Mission * 2P - Develop Blok D stage - March 1967 * 3P - Develop Blok D stage - March 1967 * 4L - Uncrewed lunar flyby - May 1967 (actually launched on 27 September 1967, booster failure) * 5L - Uncrewed lunar flyby - June 1967 (actually launched on 22 November 1967, booster failure) * 6L - Crewed lunar flyby - June or July 1967 * 7L and 8L - Crewed lunar flybys - August 1967 (7L actually launched on 23 April 1968, as
Zond 1968A Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program details The pro ...
, booster failure; 8L actually launched on 21 July 1968, booster explosion) * 9L and 10L - Crewed lunar flybys - September 1967 (10L planned to launch as Zond 9, cancelled) * 11L and 12L - Crewed lunar flybys - October 1967 * 13L - Reserve spacecraft (actually launched on 20 January 1969, as Zond 1969A, booster failure) In July 1968, it was proposed that L1 spacecraft would be launched every month, and the first crewed mission would be in December 1968 or January 1969 after 3 or 4 successful uncrewed flights. In December 1968, dates for three crewed L1 missions were set to March, May, and July 1969. Finally, in September 1969 one crewed L1 mission was formally set for April 1970.


Built spacecraft

Fifteen Soyuz 7K-L1 were built: * s/n 1 - prototype not equipped with heat shield, intended to perfect orbital operation of the spacecraft without recovery of the capsule. * s/n 2 - prototype not equipped with heat shield, intended to perfect orbital operation of the spacecraft without recovery of the capsule. Launched on 10 March 1967 as Cosmos 146. * s/n 3 - launched on 8 April 1967 as
Cosmos 154 Kosmos 154 ( meaning ''Cosmos 154''), also known as Zond No.3P, was a Soviet test spacecraft launched from the Baikonur aboard a Proton-K rocket. It was a prototype Soyuz 7K-L1 launched by Proton. It was an uncrewed precursor to the Zond series ...
. * s/n 4 - launched on 27 September 1967, as Zond 1967A, booster failure. * s/n 5 - launched on 22 November 1967, as
Zond 1967B Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program details The pro ...
, booster failure. * s/n 6 - launched on 2 March 1968 as
Zond 4 Zond 4, part of the Soviet Zond program and an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft, was one of the first Soviet experiments towards crewed circumlunar spaceflight. It was launched to test the spaceworthiness of the ne ...
. * s/n 7 - launched on 23 April 1968, as
Zond 1968A Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program details The pro ...
, destroyed. * s/n 8 - launched on 21 July 1968, destroyed. * s/n 9 - launched on 14 September 1968 as
Zond 5 Zond 5 () was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 it became the first spaceship to travel to and circle the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory, the first Moon mission to include animals, and the first to return safely to Ea ...
. The return capsule is on display at the Energia Museum, in Russia. * s/n 10 - planned to launch as Zond 9, cancelled. * s/n 11 - launched as
Zond 7 The Zond 7 spacecraft, part of the Soviet Zond program, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969. Its mission was to support studies of the Moon and circumlunar space, to obtain color photography of Earth and the ...
. The return capsule is on display at Orevo, Russia. * s/n 12 - launched on 10 November 1968, as
Zond 6 Zond 6 was a formal member of the Soviet Zond program, and an unpiloted version of the Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft. It was launched on a lunar flyby mission on November 10, 1968, from a parent satellite (68-101B) in Earth parking o ...
, returned to Earth on 17 November 1968. * s/n 13 - launched on 20 January 1969, as Zond 1969A, failure, capsule recovered. * s/n 14 - launched on 20 October 1970, as
Zond 8 Zond 8, also known as L-1 No.14, was the last in the series of circumlunar spacecraft, a member of the Soviet Zond program, designed to rehearse a piloted circumlunar flight, an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed circumlunar flight spacec ...
, returned to Earth on 27 October 1970. * s/n 15 - planned to launch as Zond 10, cancelled.


Test missions

* Cosmos 146 (Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 1) ** Launched on 10 March 1967 ** Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P launched by Proton into a planned highly elliptical Earth orbit. *
Cosmos 154 Kosmos 154 ( meaning ''Cosmos 154''), also known as Zond No.3P, was a Soviet test spacecraft launched from the Baikonur aboard a Proton-K rocket. It was a prototype Soyuz 7K-L1 launched by Proton. It was an uncrewed precursor to the Zond series ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 3) ** Launched on 8 April 1967 ** Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P launched by Proton and failed into a planned translunar trajectory. * Zond 1967A (Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 4) ** Launched on 27 September 1967 ** First stage - 1 x RD-253 failed, resulting in at T+67 seconds in deviation from the flight path. *
Zond 1967B Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program details The pro ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 5) ** Launched on 22 November 1967 ** Second stage - 1 x RD-210 failure, shutoff of stage 4 seconds after ignition. Launcher crashed downrange. *
Zond 4 Zond 4, part of the Soviet Zond program and an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft, was one of the first Soviet experiments towards crewed circumlunar spaceflight. It was launched to test the spaceworthiness of the ne ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 6) ** Launched on 2 March 1968 ** Study of remote regions of circumterrestrial space, development of new on-board systems and units of space stations. ** Returned to Earth on 7 March 1968 - Self-destruct system automatically blew up the capsule at 10 to 15 km altitude, 180–200 km off the African coast at Guinea. *
Zond 1968A Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program details The pro ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 7) ** Launched on 23 April 1968 ** Second stage failed 260 seconds after launch. ** Attempted Lunar flyby. *
Zond 1968B Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet Union, Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration. Program de ...
(Zond 7K-L1 s/n 8) ** Launched on 21 July 1968 ** Blok D stage exploded on the pad, killing three people. *
Zond 5 Zond 5 () was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 it became the first spaceship to travel to and circle the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory, the first Moon mission to include animals, and the first to return safely to Ea ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 5) ** Launched on 15 September 1968 ** Circumlunar on 18 September 1968. The first Moon mission to include animals. ** Returned to on 21 Earth September 1968. *
Zond 6 Zond 6 was a formal member of the Soviet Zond program, and an unpiloted version of the Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft. It was launched on a lunar flyby mission on November 10, 1968, from a parent satellite (68-101B) in Earth parking o ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 12) ** Launched on 10 November 1968 ** Circumlunar on 14 November 1968 ** Returned to Earth on 17 November 1968 but crashed due to a parachute failure. * Zond 1969A (Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 13) ** Launched on 20 January 1969 (planned 8 December 1968) ** Stage two shut down 25 seconds early. Automatic flight abort. The capsule was safely recovered. ** Attempted Lunar flyby (planned first crewed flight before Apollo 8). * Zond-M 1 ** Launched on 21 February 1969 ** First stage failure. The capsule escape system fired 70 seconds after launch. The capsule was recovered. ** Attempted Lunar orbiter and
N1 rocket The N1 (from , "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Mo ...
test. * Zond-M 2 ** Launched on 3 July 1969 ** First stage failure. The Zond capsule was recovered. ** Attempted Lunar orbiter and
N1 rocket The N1 (from , "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Mo ...
test. *
Zond 7 The Zond 7 spacecraft, part of the Soviet Zond program, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969. Its mission was to support studies of the Moon and circumlunar space, to obtain color photography of Earth and the ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 11) ** Launched on 7 August 1969 ** Lunar flyby on 11 August 1969 ** Returned to Earth on 14 August 1969. *
Zond 8 Zond 8, also known as L-1 No.14, was the last in the series of circumlunar spacecraft, a member of the Soviet Zond program, designed to rehearse a piloted circumlunar flight, an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed circumlunar flight spacec ...
(Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 14) ** Launched on 20 October 1970 ** Lunar flyby on 24 October 1970 ** Returned to Earth on 27 October 1970. *'' Zond 9 (Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 10)'' ** Planned but cancelled. *'' Zond 10 (Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 15)'' ** Planned but cancelled.


References


External links


Very detailed information about the Soyuz 7K-L1 used in Zond 4-8



Space mission timeline


{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuz 7k-L1 Crewed spacecraft Zond program Soyuz program Cancelled Soviet spacecraft Soviet lunar program Space missions that ended in failure