CGI's aldoloup: The secret Soviet lunar program

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CGI's aldoloup: The secret Soviet lunar program

Posted By: CGI_admin [Send E-Mail]
Date: Friday, 19-Jul-2013 17:46:27

History books record that on 12 April 1961 the world was informed of the first flight of a human being into space. The feat was Soviets', as was the first artificial satellite. After such success it seemed that the USSR would be the first nation to reach the moon, but they always denied having had that goal. Decades later it was discovered that in the end they did try a manned lunar landing. Here is that secret chapter of History. The flights, with Alexei Leonov as chief cosmonaut, were as follows (data from Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica, http://www.astronautix.com): 1961: Soyuz 1: testing of the mother ship in Earth orbit. Multiple failures and death of its single crewmember Vladimir Komarov when it crashed upon return. He was the first fatality in a space flight, a tragedy that is remembered every 24th of April. 1968-1969: Soyuz 2-3, Soyuz 4-5: unmanned tests of the mother ship in orbit around the Earth, including docking. Successful. 1968-1970: Zond 4, Zond 5, Zond 6, Zond 7, Zond 8: unmanned test of the mother ship in Moon loop (circumlunar) flybys. All except Zond 7 failed. 1970-1971: Cosmos 379, Cosmos 398, Cosmos 434: testing of the lunar module in orbit around the Earth, without crew. All three missions were successful. 1969-1972: N1-3L, N1-5L, N1-6L, N1-7L: unmanned test launches of the N-1, the rocket intended to hurl the three spacecraft combined up to the Moon. Four attempts, four explosions. http://www.naturapop.com/home/the-secret-soviet-lunar-program