Kuchma explained how Ukraine could have changed the history of the Moon
Ukraine had all the technical capabilities to land a person on the Moon, but the ambitious project failed due to systemic flaws in the Soviet rocket program.
This was revealed in an interview with “Fakty” by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who directly oversaw the development of the key lunar module in the 1960s.
Ukraine’s second president shared his memories of his work as the lead designer of “Block E.”
It was a unique landing and propulsion system created by specialists from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and the Pivdenmash plant in Dnipro for the Soviet space mission.
The module’s technical specifications were extremely complex and demanding for that time.
The spacecraft was supposed to successfully undock from the main spacecraft in lunar orbit, perform a soft landing, and subsequently ensure the cosmonaut’s takeoff and return.
According to Leonid Kuchma, the Ukrainian part of the work was executed flawlessly, and the module passed all necessary tests.
“It was fully ready for use and had even passed several successful orbital tests,” emphasized Ukraine’s second president.
The main reason for the failure of the entire program was the unreliability of the giant N-1 launch vehicle.
The complex design, with an excessive number of engines, led to all four test launches ending in disasters during the initial stages of flight.
Due to the launch vehicle’s failures, the unique Ukrainian module was never able to demonstrate its capabilities under real-world conditions.
While the USSR struggled with technical malfunctions, the United States won the space race by carrying out the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
Leonid Kuchma views today’s space race as fundamentally new, with the United States and China as the main players.
From the Moon to everyday life: what new technologies the Artemis mission could bring
An astronaut on the ISS suddenly lost his ability to speak
