User:WDGraham/L3 Complex

The L3 Complex was a Soviet manned spaceflight programme which was intended to land men on the Moon. One of a number of Soviet manned lunar programmes, the L3 programme was abandoned after the failure of the Soviet Union to reach the Moon before the United States, and after repeated failures of the carrier rocket which was developed to launch L3 missions.

The L3 programme would have sent cosmonauts to the Moon aboard Soyuz 7K-LOK spacecraft, using the lunar orbit rendezvous mission mode. The LK spacecraft would have been used to transport the cosmonauts to the lunar surface, and back to the Soyuz for their return to Earth. The N1 rocket was built to launch L3 missions. Although the programme failed to land men on the Moon, it led to

Background

Main articles: Space Race and Soviet manned lunar programs

Components

Soyuz 7K-LOK spacecraft

The Soyuz 7K-LOK spacecraft

Main article: Soyuz 7K-LOK

LK lander

The LK lander

Main article: LK (spacecraft)

N1 rocket

The N1 rocket

Main article: N1 (rocket)

Blok G and Blok D upper stages

Main articles: Blok G and Blok D

Test flights

See also: Soyuz-L