LK Landing Gear
During the early 60s after the lunar landing initiative was spelled out by President Kennedy, it was assumed the Soviet Union had a similar program in the works. However, by early 1969, once they realized that they could lose the “moon race” in a matter of months, denied they had ever had plans to land a man on the moon when robots would be cheaper and safer.
But they did.
And it was believed that extremely popular cosmonaut and the first man to walk in space, Alexi Leonov, would likely do the same on the moon.
It would be kept secret for two decades.
Seen here is one of the landing gear for their LK (“Lunniy Korabyl”, lunar cabin”). Over 18 feet tall and barely one third the mass of the Apollo lander, the LK could only carry a crew of one along with few small experiments.
To launch both the LK and LOK (lunar lander and return vehicle), a rocket more powerful than the Saturn V would need to be built. With 30% more thrust than the Saturn V, the Soviet’s poor knowledge of micro-electronics or lightweight alloys, the more powerful rocket could only deliver two men to the moon and a seriously stripped down lander. To save weight, no docking tunnel was created, so the Leonov would have to do a spacewalk to transfer to the return ship. And one version left out the forward hatch so the cabin would be in vacuum the entire time and stay on the moon a scant 6 hours.
Unfortunately the massive N-1 lunar rocket failed all four unmanned launch attempts from 1969 to 1972, one being called “the largest man-made non-nuclear explosion in history.” The LK lander would fly unmanned for three earth orbiting missions, and the program scrapped by 1976. It was believed that only a single landing would take place.
However, they had a backup plan. Shortly before Apollo 11 launched, the Russians launched the unmanned lander in a last ditch effort to return lunar samples before the Americans. Luna 15, we were assured, would not interfere with Apollo. Delayed a day, the Luna began its descent less than two hours before lunar liftoff for Eagle. Four minutes later it went silent after crashing into a mountainside about 344 miles away from Apollo 11
Above photo by Carlsten Olsen, used with permission
The very cramped cabin barely had room for the spacesuited pilot and a few small experiments.