Two N1 Moon rockets appear on the pads at Baikonur Cosmodrome in early July 1969. (NASA)

N1 or N-1 was the Soviet rocket intended to send Soviet cosmonauts to the Moon, preferably ahead of the Americans. It is also known in the west as the G-1e or SL-15. All four attempted launches failed, and the project was officially cancelled in 1976. Two N1 Moon rockets appear on the pads at Tyura-Tam in early July 1969. ... Two N1 Moon rockets appear on the pads at Tyura-Tam in early July 1969. ... The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ÄŸarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the worlds oldest and largest working space launch facility. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ...

History

Development of the N1 began in 1959 under the direction of Sergei Korolev at his OKB-1 Design Bureau. The original design proposed a 50 ton payload intended as a launcher for military space stations and a manned Mars flyby using a nuclear engine upper stage. The N1 was the largest of three proposed designs; the N2 was somewhat smaller and intended to compete with the proposed UR-200, and the much smaller N3, which would replace his "workhorse" R-7 rocket. No actual development was carried out at this point, however; the N-series was strictly a "paper project". Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (Серге́й Па́влович Королёв) (December 30, 1906– January 14, 1966) was the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the space race, known only as the chief designer during his lifetime. ... S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (also known as RKK Energiya) is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. ... The space station Mir A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. ... R-7 with Sputnik 2 The R-7 (Semyorka) was the worlds first ICBM and was deployed by the Soviet Union. ...

In December 1959 a meeting was called with all of the chief designers, who presented their latest designs to the military. Korolov presented the N-series along with a much more modest series of upgrades to the R-7. Vladimir Chelomei, Korolov's rival, presented his "Universal Rocket" series, which used a common lower stage in various clustered configurations to meet a wide variety of payload requirements. Mikhail Yangel, perhaps the most successful of the three but with little political power, presented the small R-26 intended to replace the R-16, the much larger R-36ICBM, as well as the SK-100, a space launcher based on a huge cluster of R-16's. In the end the military planners selected Chelomei's UR-100 as the new "light" ICBM, and Yangle's R-36 for the "heavy" role. They saw no need for any of the larger dedicated launchers, but also gave Korolov funding to develop the Molniya (8K78) adaptation of the R-7. Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei (Влади́мир Никола́евич Челоме́й) (June 30, 1914—December 8, 1984) was a Soviet mechanics scientist and rocket engineer. ... Mikhail Yangel (1911-1971) was a leading missile designer in the Soviet Union. ... Molniya 8K78 is a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and has four stages. ...

Things changed in 1961. In March, during a meeting at Baikonur, designers discussed the N1 design, along with a competing design, the R-20. In June, Korolev was given a small amount of funding for N1 development between 1961 and 1963. In May 1961 a government report, On Reconsideration of the Plans for Space Vehicles in the Direction of Defense Purposes, set the first test launch of the N1 rocket for 1965. Map showing Baikonurs location in Kazakhstan. ...

When the US announced the goal of landing a man on the moon in May 1961, Korolev proposed a lunar mission based on a new spacecraft, eventually known as the Soyuz, that was designed for on-orbit rendezvous. Several launches would be used to build up a complete moon package, one for the Soyuz, another for the lunar lander, and additional launches with cislunar engines and fuel. Although this mission profile, "Earth-Orbital Rendezvous", requires the least amount of launch weight of its boosters, the lunar boosters and fuel were simply too large for any existing Soviet launcher. Korolev thus proposed development of the N1 with a 50-ton payload – much smaller than the N1 design that would eventually be delivered. Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station Soyuz (Soyus, Союз, union) is a series of spacecraft designed by Sergey Korolyov for the Soviet Unions space program. ...

To power the new design, Valentin Glushko, who then held a near-monopoly on rocket design in the Soviet Union, proposed a new engine, the RD-270, running on unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UMDH) and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) for Korolev's design. This formula is hypergolic (i.e. its components ignite on contact, reducing the complexity of the combustion system), and was widely used in Glushko's existing engine designs used on various ICBMs. However, the high weight of the UMDH/N2O4 fuel dramatically reduces specific impulse, and Korolev felt that any realistic high-performance design would need to use higher-performance fuels, in his opinion, kerosene with a liquid oxygen oxidizer. Additionally, Korolev felt that the toxic nature of the fuels and their exhaust presented a real safety risk. Valentin Petrovich Glushko (born September 2, 1908 in Odessa, Ukraine, died January 10, 1989) was a Russian engineer and rocketry pioneer. ... Lewis formula of UDMH (1,1-Dimethylhydrazine) Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) (1,1-Dimethylhydrazine) is a hypergolic rocket fuel ingredient, often used in combination with the oxidiser nitrogen tetroxide. ... Nitrogen tetroxide (or Dinitrogen tetroxide) (N2O4) is a hypergolic propellant often used in combination with a hydrazine-based rocket fuel. ... Hypergolic rocket fuels spontaneously ignite when their two components come into contact with each other. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... The specific impulse (commonly abbreviated Isp) of a propulsion system is the impulse (change in momentum) per unit of propellant. ... Russian kerosene lamp Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. ... Liquid oxygen (also LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace industry) is the liquid form of oxygen. ...

The difference of opinions led to a falling out between Korolev and Glushko. In 1962 a committee that was appointed to break the logjam agreed with Korolev. Since Glushko refused to work on such a design, Korolev eventually "gave up" and decided to enlist the help of the Nikolai Kuznetsov's OKB-276, a jet engine designer. Kuznetsov, who had limited experience in rocket design, responded with a fairly small engine known as the NK-15, which would be delivered in several versions tuned to different altitudes. To achive the required amount of thrust, it was proposed that a large number of NK-15's would be used in a clustered configuration around the outer rim of the lower-stage booster. The "inside" of the ring of engines would be open, with air piped into the hole via inlets near the top of the booster stage. The air would be mixed with the exhaust in order to provide thrust augmentation, as well as additional combustion with the deliberately fuel-rich exhaust. The ring-like arrangement of so many rocket engine nozzles on the N1's first stage could have been an attempt at creating a crude version of a toroidal aerospike engine system; more conventional aerospike engines were also studied. Kuznetsov (OKB-276) was a Soviet design bureau for aircraft engines, led by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... Air-augmented rockets (also known as rocket-ejector, integral rocket ramjet, ramrocket, ducted rocket or ejector ramjets) use air collected during flight to use as additional working mass, leading to greater effective thrust for any given amount of fuel. ... RS-2200 linear aerospike engine for the X-33 program being tested. ...

Meanwhile, Chelomei's OKB-52 proposed an alternate mission, LK-1, with much lower risk. Instead of a manned landing, Chelomei proposed a series of circumlunar missions which he felt would be able to beat the US. He also proposed a new booster for the mission, clustering three of his existing UR-200 designs (known as the SS-11 in the west) to produce a single larger booster, the UR-500. However, these plans were dropped when Glushko offered Chelomei the RD-270, which allowed the construction of a much simpler "monoblock" design, also known as the UR-500. NPO Mashinostroyeniye is a rocket design bureau based in Reutov, Russia. ... The UR-100 was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed and deployed by the Soviet Union from 1966 to 1996. ...

The Soviet military, specifically the Strategic Missile Forces, was reluctant to support what was essentially a politically-motivated project with little military utility. However, both Korolev and Chelomei pushed for a lunar mission. For some time, between 1961 and 1964, Chelomei's less aggressive proposal was accepted, and development of his UR-500 and the L1 spacecraft were given a high priority. When Gemini missions put the US in the lead in space development, Korolev pressured Nikita Khrushchev into making a lunar landing before the US. Since there were a number of unknowns in the Earth-Orbit-Rendezvous profile that could not be tested in time, a direct-launch profile similar to Apollo was selected. This required much larger boosters. Project Gemini insignia Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program in which the United States of America sent humans into space, between Projects Mercury and Apollo, during the years 1963-1966. ... (Russian: , Nikita Sergeevič Hruščëv; surname commonly romanized as Khrushchev, IPA: ; April 17, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ...

Korolev proposed a larger N1 with 75 tons of thrust, combined with a new lunar package known as the L3. The L3 combined the lunar engines, an adapted Soyuz (the LOK) and the new LK lunar lander in a single package. Chelomei responded with a clustered UR-500-derived vehicle, topped with the L1 spacecraft already under development, and a lander of their own design. Korolev's proposal was selected as the winner in August 1964, while Chelomei was told to continue with his circumlunar UR-500/L1 work.

When Khrushchev was overthrown later in 1964, infighting between the two teams started anew. In October 1965 the Soviet government ordered a compromise; the circumlunar mission would be launched on Chelomei's UR-500 using Korolev's Soyuz spacecraft in place of their own Zond design, aiming for a launch in 1967, the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Korolev, meanwhile, would continue with his original N1-L3 proposal. Korolev had clearly won the argument, but work on the L1 continued anyway, as the Zond. The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... The name Zond (meaning probe in Russian) is the name given to two series of Soviet unmanned space missions from 1964 to 1970 to gather information about nearby planets and test spacecraft. ...

Korolev died in 1966 due to complications after minor surgery, and the work was taken over by his deputy, Vasily Mishin. Mishin did not have Korolev's political astuteness or power, a problem that helped lead to the eventual downfall of the N1, and of the lunar mission as a whole. Vasily Mishin Vasily Pavlovich Mishin (born January 18, 1917, died October 10, 2001) was a Russian engineer and rocketry pioneer. ...

Description

The N1 was a massive rocket, standing 105 meters tall (345 feet) — easily the tallest and most powerful launch vehicle ever produced in the world. The N1-L3 consisted of five stages in total, three for immediate boost into orbit (the N1), and another two for the lunar portion (in the L3). Fully loaded and fueled, the N1-L3 weighed 2788 metric tons (6.1 million lb). The lower three stages were shaped to produce a single truncated cone just over 10 meters wide at the base, while the L3 section was cylindrical at about 4.4 meters wide. The conical shaping of the lower stages was due to the arrangement of the tanks within, a smaller spherical kerosene tank on top of the larger liquid oxygen tank below.

The first stage, Block A, was powered by 30 NK-15 engines arranged in two rings, the main ring of 24 at the outer edge of the booster, the inner of 6 at about half diameter. The engines were the first ever staged combustion cycle engines. The control system was primarily based on differential throttling of the engines, the outer ring for pitch and yaw, the inner six on gimballing mounts for roll. The Block A also included four "cheese grater" fins, which were later used on Soviet air-to-air missile designs. In total, the Block A produced 4620 metric tons (10 million lbf) of thrust. This far exceeded the 3469 metric ton (7.65 million lbf) thrust of the Saturn V. Staged combustion rocket cycle. ... A US Navy VF-103 Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat fighter launchers an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile. ...

The second stage, Block B, was powered by 8 NK-15V engines arranged in a single ring. The only major difference between the NK-15 and -15V was the engine bell and various tunings for air-start and high-altitude performance. The upper stage, Block V, mounted a 4 smaller NK-21 engines in a square.

During the N1's lifetime, a series of improved engines was introduced to replace those used in the original design. The first stage used an adaptation of the NK-15 known as the NK-33, the second stage a similar modification known as the NK-43, and finally the third stage used the NK-31. The resulting modified N1 was known as the N1F, but did not fly before the project's cancellation. The NK-33 was the rocket engine designed and built for the ill-fated Russian N-1 rocket moon shot. ... The NK-33 and NK-43 were the rocket engine designed and built for the ill-fated Russian N-1 rocket moon shot. ...

In comparison with the American Saturn V, the N1 is somewhat larger overall – only slightly "shorter", but much wider at the base. Generally the N1 produced much more thrust than the Saturn V. However, as it used only kerosene fuel in all three of its stages, it had somewhat less overall performance than the Saturn; the N1 stack could place about 95 tons of payload into Low Earth orbit, whereas the Saturn V launched about 130 tons. The US's earlier work with liquid hydrogen jet engines allowed them the confidence to use this higher-performance fuel on their upper stages, which dramatically reduced their weight and led to a higher payload mass fraction. This article is about the rocket. ... Russian kerosene lamp Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. ... A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit in which objects such as satellites are below intermediate circular orbit (ICO) and far below geostationary orbit, but typically around 350 - 1400 km above the Earths surface. ... LH2 is an acronym used in the aerospace industry, which stands for Liquid Hydrogen. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... In aerospace engineering, the mass fraction is an important measure of a rockets efficiency. ...

Problems

The plumbing complexity needed to feed fuel and oxidizer into the clustered arrangement proved to be extremely fragile, and was a major factor in the design's launch failures. It is interesting to speculate whether or not the cost of developing the Saturn V's F-1 engine is more or less than the cost of working out the problems in a cluster engine like the N1.

There was also the factor that the N1's Baikonur launch complex could not be reached by heavy barge so for transport by rail all the stages had to be broken down and re-assembled. Because of this, the complex and destructive vibrational modes (which ripped apart propellant lines and turbines) as well as exhaust plume fluid dynamic problems (causing vehicle roll, vacuum cavitation, and other problems) were not discovered and worked out before flight.

As a result of its technical difficulties, in turn due to lack of funding for full-up testing, the N1 never successfully completed a test flight. All four unmanned launches out of 12 planned tests ended in failure, even before first-stage separation. The longest flight lasted 107 seconds, just before 1st stage separation. Two test launches occurred in 1969, one in 1971 and the final one in 1972.

Mishin continued with the N1F project after the cancellation of plans for a manned moon landing in the hope that the booster would be used to launch a large space station comparable to the US Skylab. The program was terminated in 1974 when Mishin was replaced, ironically, by Glushko. Two N1F's were being readied for launch, but these plans were cancelled. The space station Mir A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. ... Drawing of Skylab with components labelled Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit. ...

The program was followed by the "Vulkan" concept for a huge Proton-like hypergolic-fuelled vehicle, and then in 1976 by the commencement of the Energia/Buran program. The Proton (Прото́н) rocket (formal designation: UR-500, also known as D-1) is a Russian unmanned space vehicle design first launched in 1965 and still in use as of 2005. ... Energia on the launch pad Energia on the launch pad Energia on the launch pad Energia lifting off with the Polyus military payload The Energia (or Energiya, Энергия in Cyrillic) rocket was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as... Illustration of the Buran Shuttle on an Energiya booster rocket Buran_Energia on the launch pad at Baikonur Buran_Energia on the pad Buran on liftoff Buran on touchdown Buran piggybacked on an An-225 carrier The Soviet reusable spacecraft program Buran (Бура́н meaning snowstorm or blizzard in Russian) began in 1976...

Remains

The two flight-ready N1Fs were scrapped and their remains could be still be found around Baikonur years later used as shelters and storage sheds. The boosters were deliberately broken up in an effort to cover up the USSR's failed moon attempts, which was publicly stated to be a paper project in order to "fool" the US into thinking there was a race going on. This cover story lasted until Glasnost, when the remaining hardware was seen publicly on display. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

More interestingly, the advanced engines for the N1F escaped destruction. Although the spacecraft as a whole was unreliable, the NK-33 and NK-43 engines are considered rugged and reliable when used as a standalone unit. About 50 engines survived, and in the mid-1990s, Russia sold 36 engines to Aerojet General for $1.1 million USD each. This company also acquired a license for the production of new engines. The NK-33 was the rocket engine designed and built for the ill-fated Russian N-1 rocket moon shot. ... The NK-33 and NK-43 were the rocket engine designed and built for the ill-fated Russian N-1 rocket moon shot. ... Aerojet is a major rocket & missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Sacramento, California with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange, VA, Gainesville, VA, and Camden, AK. Their products include a wide range of propulsion, from main engines used on a number of NASA vehicles and ballistic missiles, down to stationkeeping thrusters... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Supplied through Aerojet, three of the engines were incorporated into Japanese rockets J-1 and J-2. The US company Kistler Aerospace continues to work on incorporating these engines into a new rocket design, with which Kistler seeks to eventually offer commercial launch services. In Russia, N1 engines were not used again until 2004, when the remaining 20 or so engines were incorporated into a new rocket design. As of 2005, the project has been frozen due to the lack of funding. The GX launch vehicle is a rocket currently under development by the Galaxy Express Corporation, a joint-venture between Lockheed Martin (LM), Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and several other Japanese companies. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Launch history

• February 21, 1969: Explosion at 12,200 meters altitude, 69 seconds after liftoff
• July 3, 1969: At liftoff, a loose bolt sucked into a fuel pump caused Stage 1 explosion, destroying rocket and launch tower in the biggest explosion in the history of rocketry
• June 24, 1971: Uncontrolled roll immediately after liftoff; vehicle destroyed 51 seconds after liftoff
• November 22, 1972: Pogo oscillation at stage 1 initial cutoff; vehicle destroyed 107 seconds after liftoff

February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Pogo oscillation is the term for a potentially dangerous type of oscillation found in rocket engines. ...

Note

The overall rocket system actually bore the designation N1-L3: N1 was the booster, while the L3 was mounted on top for the trip to lunar orbit and, it was hoped, lunar landing. There is a great deal of confusion among Russian online sources as to whether it is N1-L3 (Russian: Н1-Л3) or N1-LZ (Russian: Н1-ЛЗ) because of the similarity of the Cyrillic letter Ze for "Z" and the number "3". Sometimes both forms will be used within the same Russian website (or even the same article [1] [2]). However, English sources refer only to N1-L3, and it seems clear it is a number because there were lunar projects with code names from L1 to L5. [3] The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Ze (З, з) is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, representing the consonant /z/. Its easily confusable with the number 3, for example the stages of the N1 rocket. ...

References

• Google: Cyrillic N1-L3
• Google: Cyrillic N1-LZ

External links

• Astronautix history of the N-1
• N-1 Launch Vehicle
• Stats and info
• Raketno-kosmicheskii kompleks N1-L3 (in Russian)
• Interview with Vasily Pavlovich Mishin (in Russian)
• Kistler Aerospace Corporation - the U.S. company developing an NK-33 based rocket
• drawing