It was the Russians who were the first to fly around the moon with a crew on board. This happened almost three months earlier than the American Apollo 8 took off. But why doesn't the world recognize the Soviet primacy? We figured out the situation.
Risk bet
In the summer of 1968, the situation in the Soviet Cosmonaut Training Center was still the same. Work on the creation of the super-heavy rocket N-1 was in full swing, but it was already felt - "we are not in time." The cosmonauts trained according to the previous program; it was planned to start in the first half of 1969. But the American "Saturn-5" has already flown, a couple of times even successfully. As the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, General Nikolai Kamanin, will later write:
“We are much more prepared for a manned flyby of the Moon, but we cannot count on 'maybe lucky' - our crew is scheduled to fly around the Moon for the first half of 1969. The planned flight around the Moon by Apollo 8 with astronauts on board is associated with a very high risk."
The further, the darker the news was. It was rumored that the Americans were going to win the lunar race in almost two moves, launching first a manned orbital flight, and then - almost immediately - to make the first flyby around the Moon, working out the return to Earth at a second cosmic speed.
The management constantly swore and smoked like steam locomotives, trying not to notice how dreams of superiority melt with cigarette smoke.
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No one dared to be the first to say a terrible and simple phrase: "We must risk the crew." To hell - if there is no way to launch a full-fledged manned module, you just need to reduce the actual size of the astronauts. Simple and logical idea.
Running contrary
There was another serious problem. An interplanetary station of this size is not a full-fledged spacecraft. There is no utility compartment in it, and the crew will need to be rescued after landing as soon as possible. According to the plan, the landing, after seven days of flight, which includes a flyby around the moon, was supposed to go along a ballistic trajectory into the Indian Ocean.
Several Soviet scientific research vessels left for the search work after landing in the ocean. After breaking the water surface into squares with invisible borders, the expeditionary fleet of the Academy of Sciences prepared to rescue the probe.
They were not informed that the crew would be on board.
On September 15, 1968 a heavy launch vehicle "Proton" with an interplanetary station on board was launched. The spacecraft picked up the required speed and flew towards the moon. The first orbit correction was to take place on September 17th. It turned out that the orientation of the object is unsatisfactory: the star sensor malfunctioned and unstably held the Canopus star. The crew, as expected, was silent all the way, so a team of ground specialists working on the Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov research vessel was responsible for correcting the course.
On September 18, 1968, Probe-5 circled the moon and headed for Earth. Alas, by this time it became clear that the possibility of the return of the crew was under threat. The highly directional antenna did not work: the Earth sensor was pointing it with an error. The star sensor is completely dead, and the chances of losing a spacecraft are higher than ever.
Homecoming
On September 21, experts on the research vessel worked tirelessly. The spacecraft was given a series of commands at regular intervals - mainly to turn on the orientation engines. After that, telemetry was collected again, the trajectory change was assessed, and the command was again given to correct the course.
At 16 o'clock the last command was transmitted. All ships and helicopters were in maximum readiness mode. In total, more than 20 Soviet research and military vessels took part in ensuring the landing of the Zonda-5. At 21:45, the probe splashed down in the Indian Ocean, the coordinates of the fall were determined as accurately as possible: 32 ° 18'S. and 65 ° 20'E. The nearby ships moved there at full speed. Coded messages were transmitted to Moscow and back practically without interruption.
The descent vehicle was searched all night and was found only by seven in the morning. "Zond-5" was lifted to the deck of the ship "Vasily Golovin".
No one knew that there was a Soviet crew inside that had just flown around the moon and overtook the Americans.
The sailors claimed that they heard rustling and blows from inside the ship, however, in order to maintain secrecy, they did not open the probe - they sent it to Bombay, and from there on a special flight to Moscow.
Crew meeting
On October 3, in the workshop of the Central Design Bureau of Experimental Mechanical Engineering, the capsule was opened and live Central Asian turtles, which had survived the flight perfectly, were removed. There is, however, information that one of them, due to the overload, which reached 20 units upon landing, got out of the orbit of the eyes. In addition to turtles, Drosophila flies, beetles, Tradescantia with buds, bacteria and algae successfully flew around the Moon.
Inspection of turtles - the first animals that flew around the moon in the probe "Zond-5".
So the Soviet turtles brilliantly completed the task of the leadership and carried out the world's first flyby of the moon in a spaceship with living creatures on board. American astronauts will fly around the moon only a few months later and will collect the delight of the whole world.
Only experts know about heroic turtles. They were not sent to London for an audience with the Queen and were not even given an order or medal. However, we must remember about them - simple and nameless Soviet heroes who wiped the Americans' nose.
Mikhail Kotov