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A SOVIET MOONSHOT?
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From
1958 through 1976, the Soviet Union sent automated explorers that
circled, landed on, and roamed about the Moon. Three robotic craft
even gathered samples of lunar soil and brought them to Earth. Yet
the U.S.S.R. never announced its intent to land a cosmonaut on the
Moon.
With
the end of the Cold War, Soviet plans to send men to the Moon have
come to light. Newly released diaries, technical documents, and
space hardware offer glimpses of the U.S.S.R.'s ambitious manned
lunar program. A prototype lunar space suit shows that the Soviets
really were serious about landing on the Moon.
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THE MISHIN
DIARIES
Rocket
engineer Vasily Mishin served as deputy to Sergei Korolëv in
the Experimental Design Bureau, working closely with him on many
space projects. When Korolëv died in 1966, Mishin became Chief
Designer and inherited responsibility for the Soviet manned lunar
program.
From
1960 to 1974, Mishin kept private diaries detailing the day-to-day
workings and decisions of the Soviet space program. The plans and
personalities behind this secretive program come alive in these
remarkable notebooks.
Reproduced
pages from the fragile diaries are presented here.
Portrait
courtesy of RSC Energia
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a 1965 entry, Mishin summarized upcoming Soviet space activities in
which the design bureau would play a leading role. He mentioned military
satellites, space stations, space planes, and various activities on
the Moon. He also listed many of the items and operations needed for
a manned landing on the Moon, including special tools, maps, and space
suits.
Courtesy
of The Perot Foundation
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| In
1967 Mishin recorded the space achievements planned to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. A manned flight
around the Moon and a test of the N-1 Moon rocket are on the list. Courtesy
of The Perot Foundation |
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| In
a 1968 diary, Mishin listed the cosmonaut candidates for three major
spaceflight programs: Earth orbital, circumlunar, and lunar landing.
The list includes Aleksei Leonov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and other
engineers and Soviet air force pilots. Courtesy
of The Perot Foundation |
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| As
early as 1960, Mishin recorded that Korolëv was very disappointed
by debates and government delays in adopting a master plan for long-term
scientific space exploration, including human flights to the Moon
and Mars. The Soviet decision for a manned lunar program came after
the United States had set the ultimate goal in the Space Race--landing
a man on the Moon. Courtesy
of The Perot Foundation |
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