Kosmos 379 (russian: Космос 379 meaning "Cosmos 379") was an unmanned test of the
LK (the Soviet counterpart of the
Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...
) in Earth orbit.
Mission
Earth orbit simulated propulsion system operations of a nominal
lunar landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United S ...
mission. Kosmos 379 entered a 192 to 232 km low
Earth orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth ...
. After three days it fired its motor to simulate hover and touchdown on the moon, in imitation of a descent to the lunar surface after separation of the
Blok D
Blok D (russian: Блок Д meaning Block D) is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems, including the N1, Proton-K and Zenit.
The stage (and its derivatives) has been included in more than 320 launched roc ...
lunar crasher propulsion module. The engine firing changed its orbit from 192 km X 233 km to 196 km X 1206 km (
delta-V
Delta-''v'' (more known as "change in velocity"), symbolized as ∆''v'' and pronounced ''delta-vee'', as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that is needed to perform a maneuver such as ...
= 263 m/s).
After a simulated stay on the Moon, it increased its speed by 1.518 km/s, simulating ascent to lunar orbit making the final apogee 14,035 km.
These main maneuvers were followed by a series of small adjustments simulating rendezvous and docking with the
Soyuz 7K-L3
The Soyuz 7K-LOK, or simply LOK (russian: Лунный Орбитальный Корабль, translit=Lunniy Orbitalny Korabl meaning "Lunar Orbital Craft") was a Soviet crewed spacecraft designed to launch men from Earth to orbit the Moon, devel ...
. The LK lander tested out without major problems and decayed from orbit on September 21, 1983.
Parameters
* Spacecraft:
T2K T2K ("Tōkai, Ibaraki, Tokai to Kamioka, Gifu, Kamioka") is a particle physics experiment studying the neutrino oscillations, oscillations of the accelerator neutrinos. The experiment is conducted in Japan by the international cooperation of about 5 ...
* Mass: 5500 kg
* Crew: None
* Launched: November 24, 1970
* Landed: Reentered September 21, 1983
* Orbit: 192 km
References
External links
* Mir Hardware Heritage
Mir Hardware Heritage - NASA report (PDF format)**
Mir Hardware Heritage (wikisource)
Kosmos satellites
Soviet lunar program
1970 in the Soviet Union
Spacecraft launched in 1970
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