The N-1 was the Soviet Union's rocket for sending men to the moon. Four launch attempts were made and all ended in failure. The N-1 program was cancelled in 1976.
The N-1 was the largest rocket ever built by the Soviet Union. It stood 105 m tall. There were five stages total. The bottom three stages were for launch into orbit. The top two stages were for the lunar portion of the mission (and were known as the L3).
The first/bottom stage (called "Block A") had two rings of engines, with 24 on the outer ring and 6 on the inner ring. It could produce 10 million pounds of thrust (force). (For comparison, the American Saturn V moon rocket produced about 7.5 millon pounds of thrust. However, the Saturn V could take a larger payload into Low Earth Orbit because it used a higher-performance fuel.)
The four failed launch attempts (1969-72) were all unmanned tests. In the second launch test, a loose bolt got sucked into a fuel pump, causing the rocket and launch tower to be destroyed in the largest explosion in rocket history.
The full details of the N-1 program were not revealed to the world until Glasnost in the 1980's.
In the 1990's, some of the unused engines were sold to Aerojet General (an American company) and incorporated into their rockets.
For more information:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-1_rocket
- http://www.russianspaceweb.com/n1.html
- http://www.myspacemuseum.com/sovspac1.htm
Author(s): Troy McLuhan (unknown date prior to 2007 December 31)
