ИСТИНА

Soviet lunar program supposed staying on the Moon of one astronaut and one 5-kilometer-long transition to a reserve spacecraft in the case of failure to carry out a take-off from the Moon with the main spacecraft. An astronaut spacesuit of a system "Krechet" provided a record of human self-contained stay on the Moon – until 10 hours, during which the researcher could make researches with large physical workload. In December 1965, a project of a flyby of the Moon was fully transferred to the Development Design Office-1 headed by Sergei Korolev. A new scenario involved the use of a single series of "Soyuz" for flying around the Moon (modification "Soyuz 7K-LK1") and for landing on the Moon (modification "Soyuz 7K-LOK"). For a flyby, it had to be used a developed by the leading designer of OKB-52 by Vladimir Chelomey rocket "Proton", and for landing - rocket of Korolev H-1. In November 1966, it was started a phase of flight testing of spacecraft of series «Soyuz» and a preparation for the launch of a complex "Proton-K - Soyuz 7K-L1”. Just a few days before the start of Saturn-V - Apollo-8 the complex "Proton-K - Soyuz 7К-L1" was prepared for the launch at Baykonur. Soviet astronauts were ready for the flight on December 8 but the high probability of disaster did not allow the management to make a decision earlier than the Americans.