Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration

the Soviet aviation industry, military and space programmes. This included the
Argon computer used on Zond. During the 1960s, SKB 2 developed a series of small,
lightweight, sophisticated computers, from laptops to navigational devices to big
calculating computers. Just because Soviet computers followed a different development
path from the West did not mean that they were inferior, for they were not. The
ability of the USSR to achieve automated rendezvous and docking in space (1967)
went unmatched in the West until 1998 when the Japanese satellites Hikoboshi and
Orihime met in orbit.
RUSSIA: THE MOONWALK
A special spacesuit was required for the moonwalk. The design requirements for a
moonsuit were much tougher than for normal spacewalking, for they required:
• Long duration, so as to make possible a proper programme of lunar surface
exploration.
• Spare duration, in the case of difficulty in returning to the LK.
• Tough soles and boots for the lunar surface.
• Durability, so it would not tear if the cosmonaut fell onto the lunar surface.
Russian spacesuits went back to Air Force pressure suits and balloon flights in the
1930s [20]. For the first manned orbital missions, a bright orange pressure suit was
developed. The first suit for spacewalking was developed in 1963, called the Berkut.
This was used by Alexei Leonov for the first ever spacewalk in March 1965. After this,
in anticipation of similar manoeuvres on moon flights, requirements were issued for
the testing of a spacesuit suitable for the external transfer between orbiting spacecraft.
These refinements were tested by cosmonauts Yevgeni Khrunov and Alexei Yeliseyev
in January 1969 and this suit was called the Yastreb. It was the first purely autonomous
spacesuit, without an air supply from the cabin, using a closed-loop life
support system. In the course of a 1 hr spacewalk they transferred from Soyuz 5
to Soyuz 4, using a backpack strapped to their legs (the hatches were too wide for the
packs to go on their backs).
For the lunar surface spacewalk, a special spacesuit was developed [21]. Chief
Designer Vasili Mishin laid down the requirement for a special, semi-rigid spacesuit
for the moonwalk, although the contrary view was expressed that it would have been
easier to develop a version of the Berkut spacesuit used by Alexei Leonov for Voskhod
2. Design began in 1966. The suit was called Kretchet, though to be more precise
Kretchet was the experimental model and Kretchet 94 the final operational version.
Responsibility for the spacesuit fell to the Zvezda bureau of Gai Severin, the company
which had made the previous suits. The design was finally agreed on 19th March 1968.
During this period, the Zvezda bureau also designed and built a traditional soft suit
called Oriol, but the higher performing Kretchet appears to have been the favourite all
along.