L5 -1963

The L-5 Heavy Lunar Self-Propelled Craft would be used for extended manned reconnaissance of the lunar surface. It was described in a 23 September 1963 letter setting out the space exploration plan for 1965 to 1975. With a maximum speed of 20 km/hour, it would provide living accommodation for three cosmonauts and 3,500 kg of provisions. The crews themselves would be landed on the moon using the L-3 complex.

The L-5 consisted of:

• The translunar injection stage, with a total mass of 64 metric tons
• The lunar braking stage, which included a separate midcourse correction section cast off before the braking burn. The lunar braking stage had a total mass of just under 14 metric tons. The main braking burn would start 200 to 300 km above the surface.
• The lunar soft landing/ascent stage, which had a mass of 1.3 metric tons landed on the moon. Presumably the stage would make a precision landing, homing on a beacon provided by an L-2 robot scout. The stage would use variable-thrust engines to make a soft landing at 2-4 m/s on the surface.
• The L-5 rover, with a mass of 5.5 metric tons

Mass: 5,500 kg (12,100 lb). Payload: 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: N1.

• 1963 September 23 - Korolev letter sets out a space exploration plan for 1965 to 1975. -

  The plan included a series of lunar exploration vehicles: the L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5.

• Vetrov, G S, S. P. Korolev i evo delo, Nauka, Moscow, 1998. ISBN: 5020036846. The collected papers of Soviet Chief Designer Korolev. A tremendous source of new information and insight on the Soviet space program. Russian language. More at amazon.com...