Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration

Lunokhod on top of Proton
SOYUZ 4-5 REHEARSE LUNAR DOCKING, SPACEWALKING
The failure of the first Lunokhod was disappointing, for the year had otherwise started
well. In mid-January, two spacecraft had been launched to Venus, Venera 5 and
Venera 6, using the now-improved Molniya rocket. More important, Soyuz had flown
again, rehearsing key techniques that would be used during the lunar landing mission:
rendezvous, docking and spacewalking.
A rendezvous and docking of two manned Soyuz was a natural progression from
Soyuz 2 and 3 the previous October and indeed the roots of the mission went back to
the ill-fated Komarov flight of 1967. It was a mission absolutely essential for the
manned moon landing and that was why it was in the programme. The spacewalk
would simulate the transfer of the mission commander between the LOK and the LK
lunar lander. However, mindful of the additional new objectives of the space programme,
the mission would now be hailed as an essential step towards an orbital
station instead. It was a convincing explanation for Soyuz 4 and 5 and it took in
everyone at the time - except for the chiefs of NASA and one of the populist British
dailies, the savvy Daily Express, which ran the headline 'Moon race!' the next day.
Soyuz 4 was launched first, on 14th January, with Vladimir Shatalov on board.
The mission was carried out under exceptionally demanding weather conditions, in
temperatures of —22°C and snow around the launchpad. During mid-morning on the
15th, Vladimir Shatalov turned his Soyuz 4 towards the launch site to try and spot