The Soviet N-1

The words

1. Chelomei

   Chelomei’s UR-700 was a rival heavy-rocket proposal to the N-1. Chertok’s memoirs describe Glushko’s support for it during disputes over the lunar program.

   pp. 82–83, 222 · Chertok: designers and lunar reviews (opens a new tab)

2. Chertok

   Boris Chertok was a deputy chief designer at OKB-1. He helped coordinate the lunar spacecraft’s systems and later described the program in his memoirs.

   Did you know?

   During the Soviet period, Chertok sometimes published under the name Boris Yevseyev. His own identity and institutional details were restricted by state secrecy.

   p. xi; pp. 126–130 · Chertok: designers and lunar reviews (opens a new tab)

3. Closed Cycle

   The N-1’s engines used staged combustion. In normal operation, turbine-driving gas flowed into the main combustion chamber, giving the system its closed-cycle description.

   Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab) · ESA: closed-cycle engine principles (opens a new tab)

4. Engine Cluster

   The N-1’s first stage used 30 engines. All four test failures occurred in this stage, preventing the rocket from completing its planned climb toward space.

   Smithsonian: Mishin and the N-1 (opens a new tab)

5. Escape System

   During the uncrewed July 1969 test, the N-1’s escape system pulled the spacecraft’s descent module clear of the failing rocket and to safety.

   NASA: the July 1969 N-1 failure (opens a new tab)

6. Fireball

   The N-1 fell back onto its launch pad and exploded during its second test in July 1969. The explosion destroyed the pad and delayed the program.

   NASA: the July 1969 N-1 failure (opens a new tab)

7. Grid Fins

   The N-1 carried four lattice-shaped stabilizers near the base of its first stage. These grid fins were part of the rocket’s external aerodynamic layout.

   pp. 476, 485 · Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab)

8. Keldysh

   Keldysh chaired expert reviews of the N1-L3 program. His commission approved a design in December 1964, while later meetings examined systems and weight limits.

   p. 99; pp. 126–130 · Chertok: designers and lunar reviews (opens a new tab)

9. Kuibyshev

   Samara, the city’s restored name since 1991.

   Kuibyshev was the home of Kuznetsov’s OKB-276 engine bureau. Its engineers developed the N-1’s engines while working with Korolev’s rocket organization.

   Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab) · Samara University: the city’s names (opens a new tab)

10. Kuznetsov

    Engine designer Nikolay Kuznetsov led OKB-276, which supplied the engines for the N-1’s first three stages. They burned kerosene with liquid oxygen.

    pp. 387, 485 · Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab)

11. Launch Failure

    Work on the N-1 stopped in 1974 after four failed uncrewed flight tests. No cosmonauts flew aboard the rocket.

    Smithsonian: Mishin and the N-1 (opens a new tab)

12. Lunniy Korabl

    Russian for “lunar ship.”

    The LK lander was intended to carry one cosmonaut to the Moon’s surface. A second crew member would remain in lunar orbit aboard the LOK spacecraft.

    pp. xiv, 476, 488–489 · Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab)

13. Mishin

    Vasily Mishin succeeded Korolev after his death in 1966. He inherited responsibility for the Soviet crewed lunar program, including the N-1 rocket.

    Did you know?

    Mishin kept private diaries from 1960 to 1974. Their notes and sketches later helped museum historians examine the Soviet lunar program’s decisions.

    Smithsonian: Mishin and the N-1 (opens a new tab)

14. Spherical Tank

    The N-1’s first three stages carried spherical propellant tanks suspended inside an external frame. The tanks were separate from the rocket’s outer load-bearing structure.

    pp. 485–486 · Siddiqi: N-1 engines and lunar hardware (opens a new tab)

15. Ustinov

    Ustinov was a Central Committee secretary responsible for defense-industry matters. In 1966, he called for a review of the lunar program’s progress.

    pp. 134–136 · Chertok: designers and lunar reviews (opens a new tab)