[Jay W]

The flight profile of L-3 was basically similar to Apollo, requiring the development of a large, heavy booster, the N-1, which was the equivalent of the Saturn V. The N-1 failed all its unpiloted flight tests and was cancelled in 1974.

Equivalent of the Saturn V? I thought the N-1 generated around 10 million pounds of thrust from its 30 engines in its first stage, compared to the 7.6 million pounds of thrust from the Saturn V's first stage. In theory they could lift heavier payloads into space.

On the other hand, all N-1 tests resulted in either the rocket's blowing up of their own accord, or being blown up by the launch engineers due to various failures of the N-1 rocket (for starters, the dubious wisdom of having thirty engines in the first stage).

[RadioAstronomer]

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