N1 Rocket

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N1 was the Soviet Unions Moon Rocket. It was the Soviet counterpart of the American Saturn-V. The launch location site was Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soviet Union. The first launch was in 1969. It consisted of 5 stages. All stages used kerosene and liqiud oxygen as propellants. The first stage had 30 NK-33 Rocket Engines. Four launches were performed, however, they all failed.

N-1 RocketIt was a 5 Stage Rocket!

The first stage had an amazing 30 NK-33 rocket engines, the second stage had 8 NK-43 engines, the third stage used 4 NK-39 engines, the forth used 1 NK-31 and the fifth stage was the RD-58.

N-1 Launches:

There were four launches in total from 1969 to 1972.

 1. The first test launch of the N-1 rocket was on February 21, 1969. It failed 68.7 seconds after liftoff.

 2. The second test launch of the N-1 rocket was on July 3, 1969. It failed immediately after liftoff.

 3. The third launch of the N1 rocket was on June 27, 1971. It failed at 50.1 seconds after liftoff.

 4. The fourth and final launch of the N1 rocket was on November 23, 1972.  It failed about 107 seconds after liftoff.

N1 Moon Rocket Derivatives

There were plans to develop derivatives from the N-1. Korolev, the chief of OKB-1 wanted the N-2 to be used in place of the Proton Rocket and the N-3 to replace the Soyuz/R-7 rocket. Neither the N-2 or N-3 were built and Korolev died in 1966. Mishin took over.

Did you know?

We know the Soviet’s lost the moon race. Please note the Lunar 15 Orbiter was in orbit at the time the Eagle landed. The Soviets sent a moon sample return mission to beat the Americans. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. If it was successful, the Soviets could have said it was cheaper to use an un-manned spacecraft.

The N-1 Moon Rocket was replaced by the Energia Booster. The Energia Booster used modified N-1 launch pads.

Books

– Rocket and Space Corporation Energia by Robert Godwin
Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

– Korolev : How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon by James Harford
Buy from Amazon.com

DVD

The Red Stuff – The True Story of the Russian Race for Space
from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

N-1 Moon Rocket Links:

The N1 Moon Rocket: NOdin’s Home Page:
N1 moon rocket:
The N-1 Story:
N-1 Booster:Reference: 

Photo=) www.russianspace.com/n1.html

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