LK (spacecraft)
LK-3 test unit
|
|
| Manufacturer | OKB-52 |
|---|---|
| Designer | Mikhail Yangel |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union |
| Operator | Soviet space program |
| Applications | Manned lunar landing |
| Specifications | |
| Design life | 48 hours |
| Launch mass | 5,560 to 6,525 kg |
| Crew capacity | 1 (2 on later variant) |
| Dimensions | 5.20 to 5.8 m high 4.50 m wide overall, landing gear deployed |
| Volume | 5 m3 |
| Power | N2O4/UDMH |
| Batteries | Equipped |
| Regime | Lunar orbit |
| Production | |
| Status | Canceled programme |
| Built | Several |
| Launched | 4 (all unmanned) |
| First launch | Kosmos 379 |
| Last launch | Kosmos 382 |
 LK components: 1) passive plate of the docking system, 2) attitude control nozzles, 3) orbital rendezvous window, 4) landing window (in a concave recess), 5) high-gain antennas, 6) solid-fuel "nesting" engines, 7) footpads, 8) omnidirectional antenna, 9) rendezvous radar, A) pressurized compartment, B) equipment compartment, C) hatch, D) batteries, E) engine and fuel tanks, G) ladder |
|
The LK (Russian: ЛК, from Russian: Лунный корабль or "Lunniy korabl", "Lunar craft"; GRAU index 11F94) was a piloted lunar lander developed in the 1960s as a part of the Soviet attempts at human exploration of the Moon. Its role was analogous to the American Apollo Lunar Module (LM). Several LK articles were flown without crew in Earth orbit, but no LK ever reached the Moon. The development of the N1 launch vehicle required for the Moon flight suffered setbacks (including several launch failures), and the first Moon landings were achieved by the Americans. As a result, both the N1 and the LK programs were cancelled without any further development.
Sergei Korolev, the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the 1950s and 1960s, planned to adopt the same lunar orbit rendezvous concept as seen in the Apollo Program. The Lunar expedition spacecraft L3 consist of LOK Lunniy Orbitalny Korabl (Soyuz 7K-L3) Command Ship (a variant of the Soyuz) and LK Lander. L3 would carry a two-man crew atop a single three-stage superheavy N-1 booster. A fourth stage, the Blok G, would push toward the Moon the L3 (LOK+LK) with Blok D as fifth stage.
The Block D engine would also slow the L3 into lunar orbit. Following the coast to the Moon, one cosmonaut would spacewalk from the LOK to the LK (Lunniy Korabl) lander and enter it. He would then separate the Block D stage and the LK from the LOK before dropping toward the Moon using the Blok D engine.
...
Wikipedia