Figure 1-13. N-1 rocket configured for lunar flight. The basic rocket consisted of the Block A first stage, the Block B second stage, and the Block V third stage. All stages burned liquid oxygen and kerosene. For lunar missions the LRS was added. The N-1 would have delivered about 100,000 kg to low-Earth orbit. (For a comparison with the U.S. Saturn V rocket, see figure 4-1).
Launch weight .......................................... 14,500 kg (estimated)
Launch vehicle .......................................... N-1
Length ..................................................... 12 m (estimated)
Diameter of living module ........................... 2.3 m
Diameter of descent module ...................... 2.2 m
Diameter of service module ........................ 2.2 m
Maximum diameter
(across aft frustum) ............................. 3.5 m (estimated)
Habitable volume ....................................... 9 m3 (estimated)
Number of crew ......................................... 2
1.5.2 L2 Notable Features
Flight-test version, dubbed T1K, was to have been launched on a Proton rocket. However, the T1K flight-test program was cancelled in favor of all-up testing on the N-1 rocket (figure 1-13).[1][2] Similarly, in 1965, the Apollo program opted for unmanned allup testing.
Launched atop an N-1 rocket with a L3 lunar lander and the Block G and Block D rocket stages. Together they formed the lunar rocket system (LRS) (figure 1-14).
Long service module contained a large spherical propellant tank divided by a membrane into oxidizer and fuel sections. It provided propellant for a main propulsion system different from the Original Soyuz design. The L2 main engines were not used until after the L3 and D unit separated from the L2 in lunar orbit. The propulsion system provided DV for trans-Earth insertion and course corrections during return to Earth.
Had enlarged conical skirt at service module aft.
Carried a spring-loaded probe docking system, called Aktiv (“active”), which was designed to penetrate and grip a “honeycomb” drogue docking fixture on the L3. Together they were called
Figure 1-14. Lunar rocket system. Consisted of (bottom to top) the Block G and Block D rocket stages, the L3 lander, and the L2 command ship.
↑V. Filin, “At the Request of the Reader: The N1-L3 Project,” Aviation and Cosmonautics, No. 12, December 1991, pp. 44-45; No. 1, January 1992, pp. 28-29; No. 2, February 1992, pp. 40-41. Translated in JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Central Eurasia: Space, August
21, 1992 (JPRS-USP-92-005), p. 24.
