Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration

The Soyuz spacecraft
The initial tests of Soyuz were not auspicious. The first test of Soyuz was Cosmos
133 on 28th November 1966. Cosmos 133 was to have docked with a second Soyuz,
launched a day later, but this launch was cancelled when Cosmos 133 developed
attitude control problems. The Cosmos could not be positioned properly for reentry
and was destroyed deliberately for fear that it would land in China. During the second
test, a month later, the rocket failed to take off. When the gantries were swung back
around the rocket, the cabin was accidentally tipped, causing the escape tower to fire,
thus setting the upper stage on fire and causing an explosion which destroyed the pad.
One person died, but it could have been many more. The third test, Cosmos 140 on 7th
February 1967, followed the test profile up to reentry when a maintenance plug in the
heatshield burned through and caused structural damage. Worse followed: the cabin
came down in the Aral Sea, crashed through ice and sank (divers later retrieved the
cabin from 10 m down).
Despite these difficulties, Russia pressed ahead with a first manned flight of the
Soyuz for April 1967. Instead of a cautious, single mission, a big shot was planned.
Soyuz would go first, with a single cosmonaut on board, Vladimir Komarov. Twentyfour
hours into the flight, Soyuz 2 would follow, commanded by veteran, Valeri
Bykovsky. Two newcomers, Yevgeni Khrunov and Alexei Yeliseyev would fly with
him. The rendezvous would simulate the moon link-up. Soyuz would be the active
craft and would rendezvous on orbit 1. Then the show would really begin. Khrunov
and Yeliseyev would don suits, leave Soyuz 2 and transfer into Soyuz to join
Komarov. The spacewalk would simulate the transfer of cosmonauts between the
the lunar orbiter and lunar lander as they circled the moon. The two ships would then
separate after about four hours. Komarov, now accompanied by Khrunov and
Yeliseyev, would be back on the ground by the end of day 2, Bykovsky following
on day 3. So, in 72 breathtaking hours, the new Soyuz craft would demonstrate Earth
orbit rendezvous on the first orbit, transfer by spacewalking to a primitive space
station, carry out key tests for the moon flight and put the USSR back in front.