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Soviet Moon rocket secrets revealed
BBC News ^
| 3/20/02
| Dr David Whitehouse
Posted on 03/21/2002 3:25:53 PM PST by Brett66
click here to read article
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1
posted on
03/21/2002 3:25:53 PM PST
by
Brett66
To: Brett66
That looks a lot bigger around than a Saturn V. Any stats?
To: Brett66
Very interesting - thanks for posting this.
3
posted on
03/21/2002 3:29:05 PM PST
by
11B3
To: Brett66
Sure they didn't sell it to Grand Fenwick? Radioactive wine goes a long way, you know.
4
posted on
03/21/2002 3:29:22 PM PST
by
jrherreid
To: RightWhale;anymouse;RadioAstronomer;NonZeroSum;jimkress;discostu;
The_Victor;Centurion2000...
Interesting ping
5
posted on
03/21/2002 3:30:29 PM PST
by
Brett66
To: struwwelpeter
Dreamy Russian self-esteem bump.
(I loved the "from whence Mother Russia" lyrics, btw.)
6
posted on
03/21/2002 3:30:38 PM PST
by
Askel5
To: Brett66
Having had the good fortune to get a tour of Khrunichev's factory where they build Proton rockets, I can tell you that the effort put into the Russian rocket program resulted in some incredibly robust and capable vehicles.
It's too bad both the N1 and the Saturn V have become relics. If there was one thing good that came out of the Cold War, it was these monsters.
7
posted on
03/21/2002 3:31:37 PM PST
by
Regulator
To: The Great Satan
N-1 Stages
(1) 30 NK-33 LOX/kerosene engines; 10.1 million lb. total thrust.
(2) 8 NK-43 LOX/kerosene engines; 3.1 million lb. total thrust.
(3) 4 NK-39 engines; 360,800 lb. total thrust.
(4) 1 NK-31 engine; 90,200 lb. thrust; trans-lunar boost stage.
(5) 1 engine; 19,200 lb. thrust; lunar orbit insertion & initial lunar descent stage.
To: The Great Satan
9
posted on
03/21/2002 3:33:52 PM PST
by
Brett66
To: RoughDobermann
The N1 stood 105 meters (344 ft) tall and weighed 2788 metric tons (6.1 million lb) fully fueled. This compares with 110.7 meters (363 it) and 2913 metric tons (6.4 million lb) for the American Saturn V. The first three stages of the N1, blocks A. B, and V. each took the form of a truncated cone containing a spherical kerosene tank above a larger liquid oxygen (LOX) tank. The first stage, Block A, was powered by 30 NK-33 engines, together producing 4620 metric tons (10 million lb) of thrust. This far exceeded the 3469 metric ton (7.65 million lb) thrust of the American Saturn V Moon rocket. The N1's "KORD" (Russian acronym for control of the work of the engines) system steered the rocket in pitch and yaw by throttling the 24 fixed outer engines. Roll control was maintained by routing engine turbine exhaust through six swivelled nozzles. Arrayed around the base of the N1's first stage were four grating stabilizers, each consisting of a cross hatched array of metal strips (acting as fins) held in a horizontal frame After a first stage burn of 110 seconds. the second stage was to ignite its eight NK-43 engines for a 130-second burn. Finally, the third stage would insert the L-3 complex into orbit with a 400-second burn of its Four NK-31 engines.
Comment #11 Removed by Moderator
To: Brett66
As young teens impressed with Sputnik, the rocket club used to make gunpowder rockets. They would each go about 48 feet along their chosen flightpath before exploding.
Then one day we glued 30 of them together in a bundle and fired that one. It covered the 48 feet so fast we couldn't measure the speed; straight up, too. Then it exploded.
To: Regulator
30 engines?! Talk about over-engineering...
To: Lunatic Fringe
Kistler's original design was just as wild. I think they had like 50 low thrust engines for the first stage.
So, then they got real, bought the NK-33's and they're down to 3 in the first stage.
Kistler Performance
To: RoughDobermann; Brett66
Thanks for the info. Got to admire the Soviets for their heroic achievements in space, if for little else.
Here's a pic from the 1959 East German space opera, Der Schweigende Stern, just for fun:
To: All
Some N1 variants:
16
posted on
03/21/2002 3:40:58 PM PST
by
Brett66
To: Brett66
Interesting bump!
Thanks!
To: Brett66
That IS one Big Summobitch
Comment #19 Removed by Moderator
To: Brett66
I don't know if this might be of any use to anyone (with the caption included) - I'm no Rocket Scientist!................
N1 Predecessors - Predecessors to the N1 - From left: YaRD nuclear powered
ICBM; YaKhR nuclear launch vehicle; SuperRaket; R-9 ICBM; N-III; N-IIGR; N-I of
1962; N1-L3 of 1964
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