LK (spacecraft)

LK
LK-3 test unit
ManufacturerOKB-586
DesignerMikhail Yangel
Country of originSoviet Union
OperatorSoviet space program
ApplicationsCrewed lunar landing
Specifications
Spacecraft typeLunar module
Launch mass5,560 to 6,525 kg
Crew capacity1 (2 on later variant)
Dimensions5.20 to 5.8 m high
4.50 m wide
overall, landing gear deployed
Volume5 m3
PowerN2O4/UDMH
BatteriesEquipped
RegimeLunar orbit
Design life48 hours
Production
StatusCanceled
BuiltSeveral
Launched3 (T2K)
Failed0
Lost0
Maiden launch24 Nov 1970
Kosmos 379 (T2K)
Last launch12 Aug 1971
Kosmos 434 (T2K)
Last retirement
Blok E (Lunar descent/ascent)
Powered by11D410
Maximum thrust20 kN (4,500 lbf)
Specific impulse315 s (3.09 km/s)
PropellantUDMH/N2O4[1]
Configuration

LK components: 1) passive plate of the docking system, 2) attitude control nozzles, 3) orbital rendezvous window, 4) landing window (in a concave recess), 5) high-gain antennas, 6) solid-fuel "nesting" engines, 7) footpads, 8) omnidirectional antenna, 9) rendezvous radar, A) pressurized compartment, B) equipment compartment, C) hatch, D) batteries, E) engine and fuel tanks, G) ladder

The LK (Russian: ЛК, from Russian: Лунный корабль, romanizedLunniy korabyl, lit.'lunar craft'; GRAU index: 11F94) was a lunar module (lunar lander designed for human spaceflight) developed in the 1960s as a part of several Soviet crewed lunar programs. Its role was analogous to the American Apollo Lunar Module (LM). Three LK modules, of the T2K variant, were flown without crew in Earth orbit, but no LK ever reached the Moon. The development of the N1 launch vehicle required for the lunar flight suffered setbacks (including several launch failures), and the first Moon landings were achieved by US astronauts on Apollo 11. As a result, having lost the Space Race, both the N1 and the LK programs were cancelled without any further development.

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