November 17 marks 40 years since the first self-propelled lunar vehicle Lunokhod-1 was delivered to the moon.
On November 17, 1970, the Soviet automatic station Luna-17 delivered to the lunar surface the Lunokhod-1 self-propelled vehicle intended for comprehensive studies of the lunar surface.
The creation and launch of a self-propelled lunar vehicle has become an important stage in the study of the moon. The idea of creating a lunar rover was born in 1965 at OKB-1 (now RSC Energia named after SP Korolev). Within the framework of the Soviet lunar expedition, the lunar rover was given an important place. The two lunar rovers were supposed to examine in detail the alleged landing areas and act as radio beacons when the lunar ship landed. It was also planned to use the lunar rover for transporting an astronaut on the lunar surface.
The creation of the lunar rover was entrusted to the Machine-Building Plant. S.A. Lavochkin (now NPO named after SA Lavochkin) and VNII-100 (now OJSC "VNIITransmash").
In accordance with the approved cooperation Machine-building plant named after S.A. Lavochkin was responsible for the creation of the entire space complex, including the creation of the lunokhod, and VNII-100 - for the creation of a self-propelled chassis with an automatic traffic control unit and a traffic safety system.
The draft design of the lunar rover was approved in the fall of 1966. By the end of 1967, all the design documentation was ready.
The designed automatic self-propelled vehicle "Lunokhod-1" was a hybrid of a spacecraft and a high-traffic vehicle. It consisted of two main parts: an eight-wheeled chassis and a sealed instrument container.
Each of the 8 wheels of the chassis was driven and had an electric motor located in the wheel hub. In addition to the service systems, the instrument container of the Lunokhod contained scientific equipment: an instrument for analyzing the chemical composition of the lunar soil, an instrument for studying the mechanical properties of soil, radiometric equipment, an X-ray telescope and a French-made laser corner reflector for point measurement of distances. The container had the shape of a frusto-cone, and the upper base of the cone, which served as a radiator-cooler for heat dissipation, had a larger diameter than the lower one. During the moonlit night, the radiator was covered with a lid.
The inner surface of the cover was covered with solar cells, which provided recharging of the battery during the lunar day. In the working position, the solar battery panel could be located at different angles within the range of 0-180 degrees in order to optimally use the energy of the Sun at different heights above the lunar horizon.
The solar battery and the chemical accumulators working with it in a complex were used to power numerous units and scientific instruments of the Lunokhod.
In the front part of the instrument compartment, there were portholes of television cameras designed to control the movement of the lunar rover and transmit to the Earth panoramas of the lunar surface and part of the starry sky, the Sun and the Earth.
The total mass of the lunar rover was 756 kg, its length with an open solar battery cover 4.42 m, width 2.15 m, height 1.92 m. It was designed for 3 months of operation on the lunar surface.
On November 10, 1970, a three-stage Proton-K launch vehicle was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which injected the Luna-17 automatic station with the Lunokhod-1 automatic self-propelled vehicle into an intermediate circular near-earth orbit.
Having completed an incomplete orbit around the Earth, the upper stage brought the station onto the flight path to the Moon. On November 12 and 14, planned corrections of the flight trajectory were carried out. On November 15, the station entered the lunar orbit. On November 16, the flight trajectory corrections were again carried out. On November 17, 1970, at 6 hours 46 minutes 50 seconds (Moscow time), the Luna-17 station successfully landed in the Sea of Rains on the Moon. It took two and a half hours to inspect the landing site using telephotometers and deploy the ramps. After analyzing the environment, a command was issued, and on November 17, at 9:28 am, the Lunokhod-1 self-propelled vehicle drove onto the lunar soil.
The lunar rover was remotely controlled from the Earth from the Center for Deep Space Communication. To control it, a special crew was prepared, which included the commander, driver, navigator, operator and flight engineer. For the crew, military personnel were selected who did not have any experience in driving vehicles, up to mopeds, so that earthly experience would not be overwhelming when working with the lunar rover.
The selected officers underwent a medical examination almost the same as the cosmonauts, theoretical training and practical training at a special moonrock in Crimea, which was identical to the lunar relief with depressions, craters, faults, and a scattering of stones of various sizes.
The crew of the lunar rover, receiving lunar television images and telemetry information on Earth, with the help of a specialized control panel, provided the issuance of commands to the lunar rover.
Remote control of the movement of the Lunokhod had specific features due to the lack of perception by the operator of the movement process, delays in the reception and transmission of commands from the television image and telemetric information, the dependence of the characteristics of the mobility of the self-propelled chassis on the conditions of movement (topography and soil properties). This obliged the crew to anticipate the possible direction of movement and obstacles in the path of the lunar rover with some anticipation.
The entire first lunar day, the crew of the lunar rover got used to unusual television images: the picture from the moon was very contrasting, without penumbra.
The apparatus was operated in turn, the crews changed every two hours. Initially, longer sessions were planned, but practice showed that after two hours of work, the crew was completely "exhausted".
During the first lunar day, a study of the landing area of the Luna-17 station was carried out. At the same time, the lunar rover systems were tested and the crew gained experience in driving.
For the first three months, in addition to studying the lunar surface, Lunokhod-1 also carried out an applied program: in preparation for the upcoming manned flight, it worked out the search for the landing area of the lunar cabin.
On February 20, 1971, at the end of the 4th lunar day, the original three-month work program of the Lunokhod was carried out. Analysis of the state and operation of the onboard systems showed the possibility of continuing the active functioning of the automatic vehicle on the lunar surface. For this purpose, an additional program for the operation of the Lunokhod was drawn up.
The successful operation of the spacecraft lasted 10.5 months. During this time, Lunokhod-1 traveled 10 540 m, transmitted 200 telephotometric panoramas and about 20 thousand pictures of low-frame television to Earth. During the shooting, stereoscopic images of the most interesting features of the relief were obtained, allowing a detailed study of their structure.
Lunokhod-1 regularly measured the physical and mechanical properties of the lunar soil, as well as chemical analysis of the surface layer of the lunar soil. He measured the magnetic field of various parts of the lunar surface.
Laser ranging from the Earth of the French reflector installed on the lunar rover made it possible to measure the distance from the Earth to the Moon with an accuracy of 3 m.
On September 15, 1971, at the onset of the eleventh lunar night, the temperature inside the sealed container of the Lunokhod began to drop, since the resource of the isotope heat source in the night heating system was exhausted. On September 30, the 12th lunar day came at the site of the Lunokhod's parking, but the device did not get in touch. All attempts to contact him were terminated on October 4, 1971.
The total time of active functioning of the Lunokhod (301 days 6 hours 57 minutes) was more than 3 times higher than that specified in the terms of reference.
Lunokhod-1 stayed on the moon. Its exact location was unknown to scientists for a long time. Nearly 40 years later, a group of physicists led by Professor Tom Murphy of the University of California at San Diego tracked down Lunokhod 1 in images taken by the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) probe and used it for a scientific experiment to find inconsistencies. in General Relativity, developed by Albert Einstein. For this study, scientists needed to measure the Moon's orbit with millimeter precision, which is done using laser beams.
On April 22, 2010, American scientists were able to "grope" the corner reflector of the Soviet apparatus using a laser beam sent through a 3.5-meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico (USA) and receive about 2,000 photons reflected. " Lunokhod-1 ".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
November 17 marks 40 years since the first self-propelled lunar vehicle Lunokhod-1 was delivered to the moon.
On November 17, 1970, the Soviet automatic station Luna-17 delivered to the lunar surface the Lunokhod-1 self-propelled vehicle intended for comprehensive studies of the lunar surface.
The creation and launch of a self-propelled lunar vehicle has become an important stage in the study of the moon. The idea of creating a lunar rover was born in 1965 at OKB-1 (now RSC Energia named after SP Korolev). Within the framework of the Soviet lunar expedition, the lunar rover was given an important place. The two lunar rovers were supposed to examine in detail the alleged landing areas and act as radio beacons when the lunar ship landed. It was also planned to use the lunar rover for transporting an astronaut on the lunar surface.
The creation of the lunar rover was entrusted to the Machine-Building Plant. S.A. Lavochkin (now NPO named after SA Lavochkin) and VNII-100 (now OJSC "VNIITransmash").
In accordance with the approved cooperation Machine-building plant named after S.A. Lavochkin was responsible for the creation of the entire space complex, including the creation of the lunokhod, and VNII-100 - for the creation of a self-propelled chassis with an automatic traffic control unit and a traffic safety system.
The draft design of the lunar rover was approved in the fall of 1966. By the end of 1967, all the design documentation was ready.
The designed automatic self-propelled vehicle "Lunokhod-1" was a hybrid of a spacecraft and a high-traffic vehicle. It consisted of two main parts: an eight-wheeled chassis and a sealed instrument container.
Each of the 8 wheels of the chassis was driven and had an electric motor located in the wheel hub. In addition to the service systems, the instrument container of the Lunokhod contained scientific equipment: an instrument for analyzing the chemical composition of the lunar soil, an instrument for studying the mechanical properties of soil, radiometric equipment, an X-ray telescope and a French-made laser corner reflector for point measurement of distances. The container had the shape of a frusto-cone, and the upper base of the cone, which served as a radiator-cooler for heat dissipation, had a larger diameter than the lower one. During the moonlit night, the radiator was covered with a lid.
The inner surface of the cover was covered with solar cells, which provided recharging of the battery during the lunar day. In the working position, the solar battery panel could be located at different angles within the range of 0-180 degrees in order to optimally use the energy of the Sun at different heights above the lunar horizon.
The solar battery and the chemical accumulators working with it in a complex were used to power numerous units and scientific instruments of the Lunokhod.
In the front part of the instrument compartment, there were portholes of television cameras designed to control the movement of the lunar rover and transmit to the Earth panoramas of the lunar surface and part of the starry sky, the Sun and the Earth.
The total mass of the lunar rover was 756 kg, its length with an open solar battery cover 4.42 m, width 2.15 m, height 1.92 m. It was designed for 3 months of operation on the lunar surface.
On November 10, 1970, a three-stage Proton-K launch vehicle was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which injected the Luna-17 automatic station with the Lunokhod-1 automatic self-propelled vehicle into an intermediate circular near-earth orbit.
Having completed an incomplete orbit around the Earth, the upper stage brought the station onto the flight path to the Moon. On November 12 and 14, planned corrections of the flight trajectory were carried out. On November 15, the station entered the lunar orbit. On November 16, the flight trajectory corrections were again carried out. On November 17, 1970, at 6 hours 46 minutes 50 seconds (Moscow time), the Luna-17 station successfully landed in the Sea of Rains on the Moon. It took two and a half hours to inspect the landing site using telephotometers and deploy the ramps. After analyzing the environment, a command was issued, and on November 17, at 9:28 am, the Lunokhod-1 self-propelled vehicle drove onto the lunar soil.
The lunar rover was remotely controlled from the Earth from the Center for Deep Space Communication. To control it, a special crew was prepared, which included the commander, driver, navigator, operator and flight engineer. For the crew, military personnel were selected who did not have any experience in driving vehicles, up to mopeds, so that earthly experience would not be overwhelming when working with the lunar rover.
The selected officers underwent a medical examination almost the same as the cosmonauts, theoretical training and practical training at a special moonrock in Crimea, which was identical to the lunar relief with depressions, craters, faults, and a scattering of stones of various sizes.
The crew of the lunar rover, receiving lunar television images and telemetry information on Earth, with the help of a specialized control panel, provided the issuance of commands to the lunar rover.
Remote control of the movement of the Lunokhod had specific features due to the lack of perception by the operator of the movement process, delays in the reception and transmission of commands from the television image and telemetric information, the dependence of the characteristics of the mobility of the self-propelled chassis on the conditions of movement (topography and soil properties). This obliged the crew to anticipate the possible direction of movement and obstacles in the path of the lunar rover with some anticipation.
The entire first lunar day, the crew of the lunar rover got used to unusual television images: the picture from the moon was very contrasting, without penumbra.
The apparatus was operated in turn, the crews changed every two hours. Initially, longer sessions were planned, but practice showed that after two hours of work, the crew was completely "exhausted".
During the first lunar day, a study of the landing area of the Luna-17 station was carried out. At the same time, the lunar rover systems were tested and the crew gained experience in driving.
For the first three months, in addition to studying the lunar surface, Lunokhod-1 also carried out an applied program: in preparation for the upcoming manned flight, it worked out the search for the landing area of the lunar cabin.
On February 20, 1971, at the end of the 4th lunar day, the original three-month work program of the Lunokhod was carried out. Analysis of the state and operation of the onboard systems showed the possibility of continuing the active functioning of the automatic vehicle on the lunar surface. For this purpose, an additional program for the operation of the Lunokhod was drawn up.
The successful operation of the spacecraft lasted 10.5 months. During this time, Lunokhod-1 traveled 10 540 m, transmitted 200 telephotometric panoramas and about 20 thousand pictures of low-frame television to Earth. During the shooting, stereoscopic images of the most interesting features of the relief were obtained, allowing a detailed study of their structure.
Lunokhod-1 regularly measured the physical and mechanical properties of the lunar soil, as well as chemical analysis of the surface layer of the lunar soil. He measured the magnetic field of various parts of the lunar surface.
Laser ranging from the Earth of the French reflector installed on the lunar rover made it possible to measure the distance from the Earth to the Moon with an accuracy of 3 m.
On September 15, 1971, at the onset of the eleventh lunar night, the temperature inside the sealed container of the Lunokhod began to drop, since the resource of the isotope heat source in the night heating system was exhausted. On September 30, the 12th lunar day came at the site of the Lunokhod's parking, but the device did not get in touch. All attempts to contact him were terminated on October 4, 1971.
The total time of active functioning of the Lunokhod (301 days 6 hours 57 minutes) was more than 3 times higher than that specified in the terms of reference.
Lunokhod-1 stayed on the moon. Its exact location was unknown to scientists for a long time. Nearly 40 years later, a group of physicists led by Professor Tom Murphy of the University of California at San Diego tracked down Lunokhod 1 in images taken by the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) probe and used it for a scientific experiment to find inconsistencies. in General Relativity, developed by Albert Einstein. For this study, scientists needed to measure the Moon's orbit with millimeter precision, which is done using laser beams.
On April 22, 2010, American scientists were able to "grope" the corner reflector of the Soviet apparatus using a laser beam sent through a 3.5-meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico (USA) and receive about 2,000 photons reflected. " Lunokhod-1 ".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Lunokhod-1 was created in the design bureau of the Khimki Machine-Building Plant named after S. A. Lavochkin under the leadership of Grigory Nikolaevich Babakin. The self-propelled chassis for the Lunokhod was created at VNIITransMash under the leadership of Alexander Leonovich Kemurdzhian.
The draft design of the lunar rover was approved in the fall of 1966. By the end of 1967, all the design documentation was ready.
The automatic interplanetary station Luna-17 with Lunokhod-1 was launched on November 10, 1970, and on November 15, Luna-17 entered the orbit of an artificial lunar satellite.
On November 17, 1970, the station landed safely in the Sea of Rains and Lunokhod-1 moved down to the lunar soil.
The control of the research apparatus was carried out using a complex of equipment for monitoring and processing telemetric information on the basis of "Minsk-22" - STI-90. The Lunokhod control center in the Simferopol Space Communications Center included the Lunokhod control center, which consisted of the control panels of the crew commander, the lunar rover driver and the operator of the highly directional antenna, the workstation of the crew navigator, as well as a room for operational processing of telemetric information. The main difficulty in controlling the lunar rover was the time delay, the radio signal moved to the moon and back for about 2 seconds, and the use of small-frame television with a picture change frequency from 1 frame in 4 seconds to 1 in 20 seconds. As a result, the total control delay reached 24 seconds.
During the first three months of the planned work, in addition to studying the surface, the device also carried out an application program, during which it worked out the search for the landing area of the lunar cabin. After completing the program, the lunar rover has worked on the moon three times more than its originally calculated resource. During its stay on the lunar surface, Lunokhod-1 traveled 10 540 m, transmitted 211 lunar panoramas and 25 thousand photographs to the Earth. The physical and mechanical properties of the surface layer of the soil were studied at more than 500 points along the route of movement, and the analysis of its chemical composition was carried out at 25 points.
On September 15, 1971, the temperature inside the sealed container of the Lunokhod began to fall, as the resource of the isotope heat source was exhausted. On September 30, the device did not get in touch, and on October 4, all attempts to get in touch with it were terminated.
On December 11, 1993, Lunokhod-1, along with the landing stage of the Luna-17 station, were put up by the Lavochkin Association at the Sotheby's auction. With the announced starting price of $ 5,000, the auction ended at $ 68,500. According to the Russian press, the buyer was the son of one of the American astronauts. The catalog stated that the lot "rests on the surface of the moon."
The rover's mass was 756 kg, length with an open solar battery - 4.42 m, width - 2.15 m, height - 1.92 m. Wheel diameter - 510mm, width - 200mm, wheelbase - 1700mm, track width - 1600mm.
On November 17, 1970, the station landed safely on the Sea of Rains. and "Lunokhod-1" slid onto the lunar soil. During the first three months of the planned work, in addition to studying the surface, the device also carried out an application program, during which it worked out the search for the landing area of the lunar cabin. After completing the program, the lunar rover has worked on the moon three times more than its originally calculated resource. During its stay on the lunar surface, Lunokhod-1 traveled 10 540 m, having surveyed an area of 80 000 m 2 and transmitted 211 lunar panoramas and 25 thousand photographs to the Earth. The maximum travel speed was 2 km / h. The total duration of the active existence of the Lunokhod was 301 days 06 hours 37 minutes. For 157 sessions with the Earth, 24 820 radio commands were issued. The device for assessing the permeability worked 537 cycles of determining the physical and mechanical properties of the surface layer of the lunar soil, its chemical analysis was carried out at 25 points.
On September 15, 1971, the temperature inside the sealed container of the Lunokhod began to fall, as the resource of the isotope heat source was exhausted. On September 30, the device did not get in touch, and on October 4, all attempts to get in touch with it were terminated.
A corner reflector was installed on Lunokhod-1. with the help of which experiments were carried out to accurately determine the distance to the moon. The reflector of "Lunokhod-1" in the first year and a half of operation provided about 20 observations, but then its exact position was lost. In March 2010, Lunokhod-1 was discovered by researchers in LRO images. On April 22, 2010, a group of American scientists from the University of California at San Diego, led by Tom Murphy, reported that for the first time since 1971 they were able to obtain a reflection of a laser beam from the reflector of Lunokhod-1. Lunokhod-1 position on the lunar surface: Latitude... 38.31870 °, Longitude... −35.00374 °.
Lunokhod - 1- the world's first rover that successfully operated on the surface of another celestial body - the Moon.
Belongs to a series of Soviet remote-controlled self-propelled vehicles "Lunokhod" for exploration of the Moon, worked on the Moon for eleven lunar days. It was intended to study the features of the lunar surface, radioactive and X-ray cosmic radiation on the Moon, the chemical composition and properties of the soil.
Delivered to the lunar surface on November 17, 1970 by the Soviet interplanetary station "Luna-17" and worked on its surface until September 14, 1971.
- Two television cameras, four panoramic telephotometers;
- X-ray fluorescence spectrometer RIFMA;
- X-ray telescope RT-1;
- Odometer and penetrometer PrOP;
- Radiation detector RV-2N;
- Laser reflector TL.
The fact that "Lunokhod-1" was lost became known during the next experiment on laser sounding of the Moon. As reported by an employee of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Vladislav Turyshev.
The purpose of such experiments is to determine the distance to our natural satellite, which is gradually receding - by about 38 millimeters per year. To do this, a powerful laser beam is directed from the Earth to the Moon, the reflected one is caught, and the time spent on the travel of light back and forth is recorded. And, knowing its speed, they calculate the distance.
The beam is directed to the so-called corner reflector - a kind of open box with three mirrors fixed perpendicular to each other. Any ray that hits the mirrors is reflected exactly at the point from which it was released.
Lunokhod-1 was equipped with a corner reflector. So, the Americans directed a beam at him. But nothing was reflected. They fumbled around the surface with a beam - again nothing. NASA is at a loss. The apparatus seemed to have disappeared. But its coordinates are precisely known, the beam spot reaches several kilometers in diameter. Difficult to miss.
The Soviet Lunokhod proves that the Americans were on the moon
Soviet Soviet Lunokhod looks like a tiny dark speck. Equipment left on our natural satellite during the Soviet era has been discovered.
NASA specialists have opened access to a huge new array of photographs taken by the automatic probe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - it is now in the orbit of the Moon.
There are more than one hundred thousand pictures. On the previous ones, made from a height of only 50 kilometers, enthusiasts found landing modules for almost all American expeditions. Starting with the first - Apollo 11, held in 1969, and ending with the last - Apollo 17.
Now in the pictures from the LRO they are looking for equipment left by the USSR - lunar rovers and automatic stations of the Luna series. And they find it.
Recently, Canadian researcher Phil Knock from the University of Western Ontario announced that he had discovered the disappeared Soviet Lunokhod. Which looked like a real sensation.
Our Lunokhod-1 really disappeared. In 1970 he was delivered by the automatic station Luna-17. After a series of successful experiments to reflect the laser pulses sent from the Earth, the self-propelled vehicle seemed to have disappeared. That is, the place where he stayed in the Sea of Rains area is known for sure. And there are no answers from there.
For some reason, the Americans are trying to find Lunokhod-1, persistently scanning the surface of the Moon with a laser beam. And it is difficult for them to miss - the area of the spot reaches 25 square kilometers. They find nothing.
And the Canadian, as it turned out, discovered not the first, but the second apparatus - Lunokhod-2. And he did not get lost anywhere, he stands in the Sea of clarity. Its reflectors are still functional.
Unexpected confirmation
Lunokhod-2 arrived together with the Luna-21 station in 1973. She sat down about 150 kilometers from Apollo 17. And according to one of the legends, the device drove to the site where the Americans operated in 1972 and drove their self-propelled carriage.
It seems that Lunokhod-2, equipped with a camera, was supposed to film the equipment left by the astronauts. And to confirm that they really were there. In the USSR, they still doubted, although they never officially admitted it.
Our self-propelled vehicle traveled 37 kilometers - this is a record for movement in other celestial bodies. He could have actually made it to Apollo 17, but he caught loose soil from the rim of the crater and overheated.
In the picture, Lunokhod-2 looks like a small dark spot. And if not for the traces of the wheels, then it would probably be impossible to find the device. Even knowing the coordinates.
The self-propelled apparatus of the Apollo 17 expedition looks just as vague. Although it is larger in size. The similarity - in the photographs - of both units, perhaps, indicates that they are both on the Moon. Ours - for sure. No one has ever doubted this. But the Americans were suspected of falsification. Apparently in vain. They were on the moon. At least in 1972.
Sources: savok.name, dic.academic.ru, selena-luna.ru, www.kp.ru, newsland.com
The device of the first self-propelled spacecraft "Lunokhod-1"
Instrument pressurized compartment. At night, the scientific equipment in the pressurized compartment was heated by a radioisotope heat source.
Navigation TV camera. During the operation of Lunokhod, the small-frame television camera transmitted more than 25 thousand pictures to the drivers.
Main TV camera. She filmed more than 200 panoramas along the route.
Shotgun antenna. To save transmitter power, data was sent to Earth using it.
The angle reflector has been used for laser ranging of the Moon from Earth for many years.
Chassis 8 × 8. Each wheel was rotated by an electric motor located in the hub; a mesh rim with grousers was attached to the hub with bicycle spokes.
Chemical composition analyzer. The Rifma spectrometer, developed at the Leningrad Phystech, studied soil at 25 points.
They started talking about a self-propelled lunar apparatus in the royal OKB-1 back in 1959, immediately after the first launches to the moon. The vehicle was supposed to have a high cross-country ability, so it was only natural that in 1961, when Sergei Korolev began looking for a developer, he turned to tankers. The order, however, was so unusual that, after a thorough analysis, it was abandoned first by the tank design bureau of the Kirov plant (chief designer Joseph Kotin), and then by the Moscow Scientific Automotive and Tractor Institute (NATI). Only at the end of 1963, the director of the Leningrad VNII-100 (now VNIITransmash) Vasily Starovoitov took the liberty of accepting this proposal. A group was created "to study and determine possible directions of work on the creation of self-propelled vehicles on the surface of the moon." The topic was entrusted to the head of the department of new principles of motion, Alexander Kemurdzhian, who later became the chief designer of the Lunokhod chassis. At the first stage, a variety of modes of movement were considered: walking, jumping, screw, tumbling, rolling and even crawling like a snake. But in the end, we settled on the traditional tracked and wheeled versions. At the end of May 1964, Sergey Korolev and Mikhail Tikhonravov came to get acquainted with the developments.
- Kemurdzhian made a report in which he described the advantages and disadvantages of different options, - says one of the designers of the Lunokhod chassis, Mikhail Malenkov, now the first vice-president of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. K.E. Tsiolkovsky. - A heated discussion ensued, the participants of which asked Korolyov's opinion, but he did not "put pressure on authority" and avoided the question: "You are specialists here - whatever you say, it will be so." The choice was very difficult, and the arguments were extremely emotional. It got to the point that the rivals simply stopped greeting each other.
At first, the supporters of the tracked chassis had the advantage - after all, the tank institute was engaged in the development. The permeability of the track, of course, is higher than that of the wheel, but for low-power machines it has serious drawbacks: high weight and low reliability. An openwork space machine cannot, like a tank, grind stones falling under the rollers. If even one roller gets jammed, the machine will stop. And the break of the caterpillar, easily fixable on Earth, on the Moon will be the end of the journey. But with a broken wheel, the movement can be continued. (This was demonstrated in practice by the American Spirit rover, which worked most of the time with a jammed right front wheel.) In the end, the supporters of the wheeled chassis won, although the tracked version was discussed until the last moment. So the design of the "Lunokhod" in principle allowed the transition to a caterpillar. That is why the orientation of the wheels is fixed, and it turns in a tank-like manner - by reverse rotation.
Officially, work on the creation of the "Lunokhod" started on February 10, 1965. And, of course, first of all, the designers were faced with the question of the properties of the soil on which the car will have to move ...
Still, it is solid
In the same 1959, when the idea of a lunar rover arose, a young graduate of the Leningrad Mining Institute, Heinrich Steinberg, first looked at the moon and was amazed by the spectacle that opened. The next year, starting aerial photography of Kamchatka volcanoes, he discovered similarities between lunar and volcanic landscapes.
The surface of the moon was then considered fully formed by external influences. American physicist Ralph Baldwin on the geometry of lunar craters (the ratio of the diameter, depth and height of the annular wall) proved that they were formed by an explosive mechanism, probably during meteorite strikes. The theory of astronomer Thomas Gould that the Moon was covered with a layer of dust many meters due to micrometeorite bombardment was also generally accepted. This called into question not only the idea of the "Lunokhod", but also the very possibility of landing on the moon.
It's another matter if volcanic activity played a significant role in the formation of the lunar surface, then the dust layer will not be thick. And Heinrich Steinberg writes an article in 1964 in which he notes that the very fact of the explosive nature of lunar craters does not yet prove their impact-meteorite origin: explosions can also be volcanic. And the surface of the moon will then be solid, close in properties to volcanic slag. The article was intended for publication in the "Reports of the Academy of Sciences", and in this edition, according to the rules, the article must be submitted by an academician. But which of them is dealing with such an exotic topic as the structure of the surface and the geological history of the moon? Valuable advice was given then by the scientific columnist for "Komsomolskaya Pravda" Yaroslav Golovanov, who previously worked at KB Korolev. The name of Korolyov was still strictly classified, and, appearing in print with popular science articles on space exploration, he used the pseudonym “prof. K. Sergeev ". However, in the reference book of the Academy of Sciences, he was mentioned without specifying the type of activity.
An article sent to him was published in 1965 and later turned out to be the only work that Korolyov recommended as an academician, and also the first time his name appeared in an open publication on space topics. Korolev's interest in this topic was due to the fact that just at that time the first Soviet stations for soft landing on the moon were being built and disputes about the nature of its surface did not subside. They demanded technical parameters from Korolev. According to Gould, it turned out that the surface of the Earth's satellite was completely loose. This, however, directly contradicted the data of the radio astronomy studies of the Moon carried out in Gorky. Their scientific advisor, Vsevolod Troitsky, was the only one who, at the meeting with Korolyov, signed that the moon was solid. Then Korolyov himself said: "And here volcanologists write to me that the surface of the Moon is solid." And right on the report I wrote diagonally: "The planting should be counted on a fairly hard soil such as pumice." The correctness of this decision was confirmed a year later, on February 3, 1966: the Luna-9 station made the first soft landing on a natural satellite of the Earth.
Fighting the unknown
Meanwhile, work on the "Lunokhod" centered around two completely unexplored issues: the performance of gears in space and the unknown properties of the lunar soil. Before Lunokhod, space mechanics had never worked for a long time under high loads. The designers feared that in a vacuum at low temperatures, the working surfaces of gears and other friction pairs would seize, leading to blocking of the wheels (in a vacuum there is no oxide film on the parts, and with very strong compression they can simply weld together). For testing, a small experimental gearbox was created, which was installed on the lunar satellites Luna-11 and Luna-12. The data obtained from it were compared with the indicators of a similar device in the earth's vacuum chamber in order to understand under what conditions further tests could be carried out in the laboratory.
Not a single experiment did not sinter gears, but the wheels of the Lunokhod were still equipped with explosive devices that could break the power connection between the wheel and the engine on command from the Earth. It was never possible to use this pyrotechnics, although the developers asked permission to try it out when Lunokhod had already several times overlapped the planned operating time. Another constant source of concern for designers was the properties of the lunar soil. For a long time, one could only guess about them. The first measurements of its physical and mechanical properties were made only at the very end of 1966 by the Luna-13 station. It became clear that the regolith is easily compressed without later restoring its original shape, and that it has low internal friction, which means that nothing is worth slipping in it. They began to look for terrestrial rocks similar in properties. At first, quartz sand and ground basalt were used. But then they came to the conclusion that the properties of the lunar surface are best conveyed by volcanic slag, preferably freshly fallen. Quite naturally, the question arose about testing the "Lunokhod" in Kamchatka.
Kamchatka test drive
By that time, Genrikh Steinberg had been studying volcanic rocks in Kamchatka for several years. Since 1964, together with astronomers from the SAI, he performed aerial photography and spectroscopy of volcanic landscapes. Then, since 1967, together with Professor Igor Cherkasov, he studied the physical and mechanical properties of volcanic rocks in natural occurrence. To do this, at the point under study, the helicopter was put on a jack and measured how the slag surface was deformed.
As a result, it was Steinberg who was offered in 1968 to find sites for sea trials of the "Lunokhod" in Kamchatka. All work was carried out by order of VNII-100 by the Institute of Volcanology of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In total, four sites were selected in the area of the Shiveluch, Tolbachik, Klyuchevskoy and Krasheninnikov volcanoes. Moreover, there were two areas on Shiveluch: one on the pyroclastic flow, and the other on the sediments of a directed explosion. Both of these sites were formed during the catastrophic eruption of 1964, when a powerful explosion formed a new crater and severely destroyed the old volcanic edifice.
The first tests were planned to be carried out in July - August 1969 on Shiveluch and Tolbachik, but the circumstances were different. The Lunokhod was delivered with a delay, only on August 7-8 all the equipment was in place. It took about five days to set up the camp, and on August 12, the car drove off. "Lunokhod" ran on batteries, which were enough for the whole day, if not more. They recharged them with the engine from the Druzhba chainsaw. The control was carried out from a portable console via a cable 20 meters long. There was no payload, because with the earth's gravity, which is six times greater than the moon's, the chassis simply would not bear the weight of the equipped Lunokhod. But to keep the center of gravity at the correct height, a mast with a load was placed on the chassis.
However, it is impossible to fully reproduce the conditions of motion on the Moon in terrestrial conditions. Although the device weighs less on the Moon, the dynamic loads arising from sudden braking or turning do not depend on its weight, but on its mass, and on the Moon they are the same as on Earth. Therefore, the resistance to rollover under low gravity conditions is reduced. That is why Lunokhod-1 did not accelerate over 2 km / h, and it was equipped with a security system based on gyroscopic sensors, which simply cut off the power in case of reaching the maximum tilt angles. Also, all wheels had current sensors so that the motors did not burn out under high load during slipping. A penetrometer was installed on the Lunokhod to measure the physical and mechanical properties of the soil and to assess the passability. Periodically he lowered himself and checked the surface. The importance of this tool was subsequently confirmed by the American experience. Astronauts with their rover got stuck one time, overcoming a furrow, where the depth of loose soil is deeper than on level areas. Then they had to pull out their car on their hands. But no one would have helped Lunokhod in such a situation, so its movement should have been organized more reliably.
Secret Trials
The chief designer of the chassis, Alexander Kemurdzhian, as well as a number of scientists, including Academician Georgy Flerov, flew in to follow the tests. "Lunokhod" was working on a pyroclastic flow, and on August 17, the authorities decided to show the deposits of a directional explosion. The helicopter circled for about ten minutes, choosing a landing site among the debris of a volcanic cone, which, after the explosion, rolled for three kilometers, crushing the taiga. And when the inspection was over, there was an accident. Heinrich Steinberg reports: - We take off, hover, accelerate, and suddenly I hear some kind of knocking. I look into the blister - we fall. Later it turned out - the cylinder "flew". The car sat down very hard. The pale flight mechanic jumps out, looks around and shouts to me: "Get the people out!" The car has sat down with a lot of roll, and you can just get under the main rotor if you go in the wrong direction. Then we, the flight mechanic and the co-pilot, dragged the stones for about forty minutes under the working propeller, rolling the helicopter so that it would not fall on its side after the engine stopped. Finally we closed ourselves inside, turned off the engine and waited: now the blades would sag and go along the ground. But it carried over: only four centimeters remained in stock. In complete silence, the pilot reported to Petropavlovsk: “38271 fell on a forced flight. There are no victims. " Half an hour later we were picked up by another helicopter, and then the problems began.
There was no other free helicopter. And it is impossible to explain that important work on space issues is underway here - everything is strictly classified and formalized as an ordinary economic agreement. “Wait until your car is repaired,” the management replies. Only a few days later it was possible to knock out the helicopter from Aeroflot, but here in the village of Klyuchi, where the expedition was based, the gasoline ran out. In Petropavlovsk they say that they know that the tanker is being pumped in, the fuel will be available in a couple of weeks. But Shiveluch is the northernmost Kamchatka volcano, the site is at an altitude of 1200 meters, snow may fall there already in September, and the sea trials program for another two weeks.The director of the Institute of Volcanology verbally advised Steinberg to simply terminate the test contract and thereby completely disrupt them. Like, not our problem. This is understandable, he himself was just leaving the institute, leaving for a promotion to Moscow. There were no deputies at the institute either: one had committed suicide shortly before that, the other had died in a plane crash, and one of the head laborers remained in charge. The situation is stalemate: there is no fuel, no bosses, the test team is sitting in the village of Klyuchi, the state-of-the-art Lunokhod stands unattended in a tent at the foot of the volcano. The program is on the verge of collapse, and you can't even mention it to anyone - it's secrecy.
Kemurdzhian, in a state of red heat, demands: to resume testing within four days. Then they remembered: the military, they have a squadron here. Inquired. A day later, a man appeared: "Money in the evening - gasoline in the morning." - Where to pick it up? - Where do you want? - On the helipad. - Everything will be there.
Only the price is twice as high as the state one and the payment, of course, is in cash. For 25 tons of gasoline and a ton of oil - 10,000 rubles, this is the cost of a couple of cars. Kemurdzhian increases the amount of the contract on the spot, and a day later a telegram arrives: the money has been transferred. “The next day, I gave 10,000 to a stranger, without a receipt, without documents,” recalls Heinrich Steinberg. - He told the police that you don't have to follow the helipad - we will look after ourselves. At the appointed time, there were 125 barrels of gasoline and 5 barrels of oil. The tests interrupted after the accident resumed on August 26 and continued until approximately September 10.
The future is in the past
In the Soviet lunar program, the improved lunar rover was supposed to provide reconnaissance before landing on the moon of an astronaut, and then become his personal transport. And in the event of damage to the descent vehicle, the Lunokhod would ensure the delivery of the astronaut to the reserve spacecraft, which was supposed to land in advance. It is no coincidence that the sea trials of Lunokhod-1 in Kamchatka were observed by cosmonaut Yevgeny Khrunov, who was a member of the group of potential lunar pilots. Subsequently, Lunokhod-2, which passed 37 kilometers on the Moon, was tested on Kamchatka, Lunokhod-3, which remained on Earth due to a shortage of Proton rockets, as well as a six-wheeled prototype of a lunar rover for the failed Soviet manned flight to the Moon.
Second test drive
In the fall of 1969, the Lunokhod did not start. It was postponed for a year, which made it possible in July-September 1970 to conduct another series of tests in the area of Tolbachik volcano. This time, too, there were some incidents. On the way from Leningrad to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, two boxes with Lunokhod assemblies were lost. For several days they tried to find them at the airports where the flight landed, and when it was no longer possible to hide the loss of the secret cargo from the KGB, the boxes were found in Magadan, where they were unloaded by mistake and were not even taken to the warehouse as "strangers". The top-secret equipment remained on the street for almost a week.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly further. The car was successfully rolled. She confidently, practically without slipping, climbed 20-degree loose slopes with a roll far beyond the tolerances established for movement on the Moon, where Lunokhod-1 set off two months later. The data obtained in the course of his work showed that the terrain in the Tolbachik region has a 96% correspondence coefficient with the lunar surface. After that, its status was raised from an experimental site to a test site, and since then prototypes of various planetary rovers have been repeatedly tested there, including Lunokhod-2, the non-flown Lunokhod-3, as well as a number of foreign models.
But the "left" gasoline for secret tests of the "Lunokhod" in 1969 almost cost Steinberg his career. In 1971, a criminal case was opened on this episode, and although no charges were filed, he was “in advance” expelled from the party, and then fired from the institute. The case was closed for lack of corpus delicti, but in order to abolish the party penalty, it took several years to appeal to the level of not even the Central Committee, but the Congress of the CPSU in 1976. Only then was one of the founders of the Soviet "Lunokhod" given the opportunity to work in his specialty again.
In January 1973, the Soviet space platform Luna-21 was launched, which delivered the Lunokhod-2 satellite to the surface of the Earth. The device weighing 836 kilograms traveled more than 40 kilometers on the Moon. How the preparations for the flight and the expedition itself took place, said the head of the development of television systems of the Soviet lunar rovers, employee (RKS), Professor Arnold Selivanov.
"Lenta.ru": Arnold Sergeevich, how was the decision to create a mobile automatic station for lunar exploration made?
Selivanov: This is a government decision that requires a lot of money and time to implement. Such large projects are formed at a very high level, much higher than the head of the space equipment development department, with whom I worked then.
To make a lunar rover, it was necessary to separately develop the chassis - the chassis, the remote control system, the design of the landing platform - and to solve many other unique problems. I cannot say exactly when they began to solve these problems, but this happened long before the launch of the first lunar rover, during his lifetime.
Was this his project?
I think we can say that it was Korolev who defined the ideology and began the selection of performers for individual parts of the apparatus. But it was already implemented by others. The Korolev business was continued by the chief designer Georgy Babakin.
In our organization, the work was carried out under the general guidance of the chief designer Mikhail Ryazansky and the director.
We made the "eyes" of the apparatus - television systems for controlling movement and shooting panoramas of the Moon, as well as radio systems for transmitting images, telemetry and control commands. In addition, we have created a ground-based space communications complex and provided trajectory measurements during the flight and landing of the Luna-21 station.
The ballistics experts were able to point the station very accurately: the distance between the intended and actual landing points was only 300 meters - high accuracy for that time. This was the result of the work of specialized radio-technical means and measurement techniques created at our institute.
How did the work go?
It was an emergency work, but in space projects it simply cannot be otherwise. We always do something new, and we need to launch this new one within very tight deadlines, which are often dictated to us by celestial mechanics. It disciplines the team very well.
In addition, we were young, could withstand high loads and felt our involvement in a very important matter - space exploration.
You said that you made the "eyes" of the lunar rover. What could they see?
The lunar rovers had two television systems at once. One was intended for the operational control of the apparatus. Her cameras were oriented in the direction of travel. The second provided panning in two planes: in the horizontal plane of the lunar rover for high-precision topographic surveys at 360 degrees, and in the vertical plane, one camera was installed on the left and right sides for solving navigation problems. By the way, the quality of panoramic images is consistent with the modern level.
The television system played a key role in controlling the movement of the vehicle. How difficult was it to establish high-quality human-machine interaction?
Lunokhod is a robot, similar to modern radio-controlled toys that you can buy in a children's store. The fundamental difference is that it is located on another celestial body at a distance of almost 400 thousand kilometers from the Earth.
The radio signal travels this distance in a little over a second. As a result, the total delay in the motion control loop of the Lunokhod is significantly more than three seconds: about one second is spent on the arrival of a command from the Earth, another about a second - to confirm the execution of the command by the Lunokhod, and more than a second - on the actual execution of the command by the Lunokhod, the reaction of the driver and actuators ...
It can be compared to braking a car on a slippery road. You put on the brake, and the car continues to move forward for some time.
At a lunar distance, it is very difficult to create a high-speed radio channel capable of transmitting moving images, like broadcast television. Instead of a dynamic television picture, the driver of the Lunokhod watched only slides depicting the surface of the Moon, changing at a frequency ranging from one slide every three seconds to one slide every twenty seconds.
How does it work in practice?
Suppose you need to move ten meters ahead, you send a command and wait for its execution, and only after a few seconds you see an image of a new surface area. It's so easy to get into an emergency. The driver must constantly anticipate the development of events. This non-trivial task required special skills from the drivers. They were worked out on Earth at special "moonromes".
Did they reproduce lunar conditions?
There were two main moonrocks. At the stage of developing technical solutions, a mock-up of the lunar rover was tested, which moved in the hangar. It was suspended on special rubber ropes to simulate the lunar gravity, which is six times less than on Earth. In such a "unweighted" state, the grip of the wheels became less, and then it was possible to understand how he would actually move on the moon. So the behavior of the chassis was imitated, at first without television - we participated at this stage as observers.
Then, when the lunar rover had already been created, a small "lunar" was built in Simferopol, near the ground control center, literally in the courtyard. Everything is like today in a computer game: screens, joysticks. The signal transmission delay has been simulated. There the lunar rover was controlled not by radio, but by wire. He was driving, and a wire with a control panel moved behind him. At this stage, our cameras have already been used.
Both I and the employees of my department took part in trainings, flew the lunar rover on Earth. It was important to play the role of drivers ourselves in order to understand how the television control system works in these conditions.
How did the equipment you made for Lunokhod-2 differ from Lunokhod-1?
On the first unit, two television cameras were installed very low, so they only saw a small area of the surface in front of them. At first, everyone believed that it was very important to see what is directly in front of the lunar rover in order to examine smaller objects, not to miss any obstacles. Moreover, the images of more distant objects were provided by four panoramic cameras - however, they did not work all the time. It was necessary to stop often to look around, which noticeably reduced the speed of the first lunar rover.
These circumstances were taken into account on the second lunar rover: an additional camera was installed at the height of human height. It turned out to be most effective in real work. As a result, the image quality is much higher, the vehicle speed and controllability are significantly increased, and it has traveled significantly more distance in less time.
How did you choose the driver?
Lunokhod was operated by more than one person. There were two crews. In addition to traffic control, there was one more control loop. Since you cannot put a very powerful transmitter on Lunokhod-2, we had to make an antenna directed to the Earth with a narrow beam. The antenna was also on the drive. In some cases, when driving over uneven terrain, the direction of the antenna was significantly displaced, and it was required to return it back to the desired sector. There was even such a position - an operator of a directional antenna, and there was a special second joystick to control it.
Thus, the crew consisted of five people: the driver, the commander, the navigator, the operator of the directional antenna and the flight engineer. All of them were specially selected for this purpose, they were psychologically prepared for management.
What was the psychological part of the preparation?
For example, one thought was constantly brought to them: "Dear comrades, keep in mind that you have been entrusted with an invaluable spacecraft, and therefore treat it very carefully, and at the slightest suspicion that an emergency will arise, turn it off."
Between you and me, the stick was being bent a little, and this led to stress. The drivers were in a tense state, and after a certain time they had to be changed.
This was known in advance, so the management team had its own psychologists and doctors. The pressure was measured to the drivers, their condition was monitored. They were treated almost like astronauts.
Have you selected people with perfect health?
Astronauts are selected more on the basis of physical data, and here the flexibility of the nervous system was more important. It was necessary to be able to perceive this work. They picked up young officers - people who had never driven any mode of transport before. This is a very unusual way of control, therefore, we proceeded from the fact that previously acquired skills and familiar automatisms did not surface. In the end, very good crews were created, which did an excellent job of their task.
Do you remember how you felt when your development started working on the moon? How it was?
An amazing sensation, but it passes quickly. In general, the enthusiasm and enthusiasm were universal. When the lunar rover started working on the moon, there were many people who wanted to see how it all happened. Can you imagine how interesting it is? They say that the minister asked to be given the opportunity to "steer", and that opportunity was given to him. There were a huge number of bosses of a lower rank who wanted to feel the involvement in the management of the lunar rover.
Couldn't that hurt the mission?
The participation of outsiders in management was short-lived and rather symbolic: they were allowed to send one or two teams under the supervision of the crew, nothing more.
After the journey of the first lunar rover, it became clear that it was not possible to fully simulate lunar conditions on Earth. The lunar soil - regolith - has very specific light-optical characteristics. At a certain angle, it reflects light well towards the light source. If the Sun shines exactly from behind and at a small angle, then a bright spot is obtained in the near zone - a large illumination and no shadows are visible.
You can make a mistake, and this puts the driver in a tense state, he reduces the speed of movement. To make the shadows appear and the relief to be seen better, I had to rotate a little. Appropriate recommendations were given to those who plotted the route before each session of movement, which lasted several hours. All the accumulated experience was used to modernize Lunokhod-3. Unfortunately, it remained in history as a museum piece.
Why is there no video from the moon?
We thought about it. From a technical point of view, it was difficult then, although it is possible, but today, in general, there are no problems. For example, the journey of Lunokhod-2 is reflected in more than 80 thousand frames and 86 panoramas. They can be used to make a beautiful documentary about the journey on the lunar surface. But at that time such a task was not considered paramount ...
Now these shots are in the Archive of Space Information and are waiting for their director - there would be a desire and means.
Do you remember how Lunokhod-2 ended its journey?
At the end of its journey, Lunokhod-2 found itself in a difficult road situation. He had to overcome an old, badly destroyed crater, which was common and had happened several times earlier during his movement. But one peculiarity emerged: an unusually large amount of regolith had accumulated over the years at the bottom of this crater. The wheels began to sink into the regolith, and Lunokhod-2 stalled. The situation is well known to ordinary drivers when a car gets stuck in sandy ground. We decided to get out in reverse.
