Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration

Although no cosmonaut ever did make the trip around the moon or to its surface,
we know with a fair degree of certainty who would have made these voyages [23].
Russia drew on its existing teams of cosmonauts for its moon missions. By 1970,
the Soviet Union had selected a number of cosmonaut groups. Essentially, Soviet
cosmonaut selection was divided into three streams: Air Force pilots and military
engineers, who commanded missions; flight engineers, civilians mainly drawn from
the design bureaux that made the spacecraft; and specialists, like doctors, selected for
specific missions. By the time of the moon programme, the following groups of pilots
had been selected:
• Twenty young Air Force pilots for the first manned spaceflights (1960).
• Five young women to make the first flight by a woman into space (1962).
• Fifteen older Air Force pilots and military engineers (1963) (two more joined the
group later).
• Twenty young Air Force pilots and military engineers (1965), later called 'the
Young Guards'.
The following groups of civilian engineers had been selected:
• Two engineers, one of whom would fly on the first multi-manned Voskhod flight
(1964).
• Six engineers from OKB-1 (1966), with three more joining the following year.
• Three more civilian engineers (1969).
The following specialists were also selected:
• Two doctors (1964).
• Four Academy of Sciences cosmonauts (1967).
Many more cosmonauts were selected subsequently, but too late for the prospective
moon missions and they are not considered here (the much later N1-L3M plan never
got so far as to merit the selection of cosmonauts). Of the groups above, two were not
relevant to the moon programme. The women's group was selected for the first flight
of a woman in space, eventually made by Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. Although
there was a number of discussions about further missions by women, none came to
fruition and none were ever considered for a moon mission. The group was disbanded
in 1969. The two doctors likewise were never considered for the moon mission.
For its moon mission, Russia theoretically had available up to 74 cosmonauts. In
reality, the total number available was much smaller, for some had retired or gone on
to other work. A small number died during accidents. By far the largest cause for the
reduction of numbers was people exiting due to failing medical tests, sometimes
caused by the rigorousness of the training regime. A small number was also dismissed
for indiscipline.