USSR. On December 30, 1964, the decision was made to build 16 N-1 rockets. The first mock-up of an N-1 arrived on the launch pad on November 25, 1967, and was photographed by a CORONA spy satellite just two weeks later. The first N-1 was ready on the launch pad on May 7, 1968. The plan aimed for a lunar landing in September 1968. A crack in the fuel tanks was discovered and the launch was postponed. The comparison with the Saturn V was merciless: four out of four failed launches for the N-1, 13 out of 13 successful for the Saturn V. The main advantage of the Americans was the use of hydrogen and exhaustive ground tests before launches. Korolev’s LOK (and LK) capsule (OKB-1), launchable from an N-1, competes with the lunar projects of Chelomei (OKB-52), who wanted to launch an L-1 (Zond) capsule around the Moon with a Proton UR-500K. Several Proton launches (1967-68) with an L-1 Zond capsule will have problems with the launcher or the capsule.
