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Author
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Topic: Why didn't the Russians go to the moon?
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mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 11-01-2002 10:01 AM
   
I'm not sure if I've ever heard the real reason the Russians didn't ever send men to the moon. They did suffer some setbacks and the Americans did get there first, but the Soviet Union had worked for years on going there and they were sooo close. America would have gone if they weren't first. The Soviets didn't have the financial problems they do now... so why just quit?Noah |
NC Apollo Fan
Member Posts: 261
From: Belmont, NC USA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 11-01-2002 10:39 AM
If I understand correctly, I think that the official line from Moscow following the moon landing was to say that a Russian landing was never actually a goal. It allowed them to bow out with a bit more grace and dignity than admitting to coming in second (and with a seemingly inferior one-man lander). I think that it was rather transparent.From a technological standpoint, following the death of Korolev they really were at a standstill in regard to the problems of the N1 booster. So perhaps to Moscow it seemed easier to claim that a Russian landing had never been a serious goal. I am sure that others will have a lot more knowledge of this than I do, so please correct me if I am wrong. Jonathan |
Rodina
Member Posts: 836
From: Lafayette, CA
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 11-01-2002 12:32 PM
NC Apollo has summed it up well. I would only add that Korolev's death was, of course, a big set back technically - but even more so, it was a huge bureaucratic set back. Korolev was very good at getting the resources he needed and a case can be made that if Korolev had lived, he may well have had the ability to keep the Soviets on track to the moon (and beyond), but there were a lot of conflicting bureaucratic forces in the Soviet Union that probably never took too kindly to Korolev's success. We often think fondly on Dr Von Braun, Max Faget and Tom Kelly and all the guys who designed and built the stuff who got us to the Moon, but you can't look at those guys and say they could have done it without Jim Webb and Lyndon Johnson and all the folks that got the political support for the program. Korolev really was all of these guys wrapped in one - and while his successor was a great engineering mind, (his name escapes me right now) he just didn't have the clout to keep anythig as bold as the N-1 and the Lunar program going. |
NC Apollo Fan
Member Posts: 261
From: Belmont, NC USA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 11-01-2002 12:49 PM
Korolev really was an incredible person. I very much enjoyed reading Korolev: How One Man Mastered the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon. You might want to check it out.Jonathan |
Cliff Lentz
Member Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-01-2002 12:57 PM
Do matter how the Russians tried to Spin the truth. They were aiming at the Moon. They had a lunar module and definate plans for the trip. When their version of the Saturn V Booster exploded taking most of the launch facilities as well, the Russian plan lost all its steam. |
ALAIN
Member Posts: 355
From: GENT, Belgium
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-02-2002 01:17 PM
You're right...The problems with the Russian Moon-Launcher named N1 halted all Russian dreams to go to the Moon! |
derek
Member Posts: 297
From: N.Ireland.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 11-03-2002 12:14 PM
I always thought it was due to the work being spread over too many centers and only about $5 billion being spent on it. With von Braun,they might have got further. |
mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 11-08-2002 07:47 AM
Thanks everybody for your feedback. It sounds like there is no official reason for the change of direction. And no single reason. I've just picked up a book on Korolev and hope to learn more about this man and his contributions.You just can't help wonder "what if they had done it?" Noah |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-08-2002 07:53 AM
There is a NASA publication that addresses this very topic, "Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974" (SP-2000-4408) by Asif A. Siddiqi. A caution though, with 1000 pages of small text and few pictures, this can be a daunting tomb to tackle (I've had it for more than a year and have started the book several times -- but have yet to complete it.) That all said, its by far the most definitive source for Soviet space program information, and I have used the book's index to quickly pinpoint information. |
Gordon Reade
Member Posts: 334
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted 11-09-2002 10:32 AM
The Soviets put out a tremondous effort and of coures were demoralized by the failure of three N1 launchs to reach orbit. But there may have been another reason why they quit.The Soviets were aiming for a manned lunar landing before 1975. Regardless of what Kennady said they felt they had the jump on us (they did) and the soonest the Americans could possibly pull it off was 1975, or so they thought. When NASA met the goal before the deadline the Russians must have thought, "Why risk it only to be 6 or more years behind the Americans. The Russians are still hurting over this loss. I was in the museum at Baikonur earlier this year and they had not one display about the moon race. In fact I'm still shaking my head in disbielief over something the docent said. These were her closing lines, "This is not a museum of cosmonauts, this is a museam of workers!" the stern little middle aged woman said. "And now we come to the most valuable display in the museum. A display that any museum in the world would be proud to have!" She then pointed to a really crapy painting of a elderly Asian man and said, "What makes this painting so valuable is that it was done with a squirrel hair brush with only a single hair in it! One little dab at a time! It took the painter 20 years to complete!" She didn't tell us who the man in the painting was but she didn't have to. It was Ho Chi Minh. Our visit to the museum concluded with her showing us the painting of a poor little old communist man who had kicked our sorry American Butts! |
Rodina
Member Posts: 836
From: Lafayette, CA
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 11-09-2002 11:37 AM
In a few parts of this country, there are still folks sore about Franklin Roosevelt and probably a few people still sore about Abraham Lincoln (Sic Semper Tyrannus!); there will be folks in Russia sore about the collapse of their space program for a long time to come.It's a strange way to take it her frustrations, however. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-09-2002 02:13 PM
The N1 Moon launcher was only launched 4 times... The Russians planned to test it 12 times unmanned in order to improve the engines... It had 30 engines there were the Saturn V only had 5 engines...All 4 N-1 launches ended in disaster but it's great to see the film of those launches... it was a huge rocket!
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