The Soviet Space Program: The Lunar Mission Years: 1959–1976

by Eugen Reichl

The N1 was the booster rocket for the Soviet manned moon program and was thus the direct counterpart of the Saturn V, the rocket that took American astronauts to the moon in 1969. Standing 345 feet tall, the N1 was the largest rocket ever built by the Soviets and was roughly the same height and weight as the Saturn. Though initially ahead of the US in the space race, the Soviets lagged behind as the pace for being first on the moon accelerated. Massive technical and personnel difficulties, plus spectacular failures, repeatedly delayed the N1 program. After the successful American landings on the moon, it was finally canceled without the N1 ever achieving orbit. The complete history of this rarely known Soviet program is presented here, starting in 1959, along with detailed technical descriptions of the N1’s design and development. A full discussion of its attempted launches, disasters, and ultimate cancellation in 1974 completes this definitive history.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2019

Reviews

[Mary]

4/17/25 Started this book yesterday and came here to comment that I am personally offended that the author does not so much as mention Yuri Gagarin in conjunction with the Vostok 1 flight, nor does he include an inset on the 12 April 1961 flight. YG's name is mentioned in a photo two pages later, in the 1962 section. YG is a god among men and the story of the Soviet Space program cannot be told without him wtf!?!?!?

[Mathieu Gaudreault · Rating 1 out of 5]

Half of the book is not even about Moon exploration but other events of the Soviet space program from 1957 to 1976