Recharging the Warp Drive!

   One of my work philosophies is, "If you throw enough lines in the water, eventually a fish will bite!"

   I continually write the General Directors of all these Design Bureaus which played a part in creating the Lunniy Korabl. Many remain unanswered, but that doesn't mean they won't answer. Business in the former Soviet Union is not the same as it is in America. In the USA it is fast paced, hustle bustle, get it done NOW! In Russia there is much more relaxed and methodical process. I understand this. One the one hand, I need to be patient. On the other hand I need to write to these companies well in advance. Even if it will be a year before I will work on a particular part, I need to contact the Design Bureau now, so that I may receive the required information by the time I need it. Every once in a while, though, I get a rather prompt reply. Such is the case with the Power Supply designed for the Lunniy Korabl.

   The Lunniy Korabl was equipped with five batteries located on the Port side of the ship - three on the LPU, and two on the LPA. Since a Reserve LK (LK-R) would be launched to the Moon in advance of the manned LK, the batteries were designed to last for three months. To ensure optimal charge of the batteries, they would be mounted after the N1 was on the pad, just prior to launch*. This meant that the location of the batteries needed to be on the outside of this ship and facing the gantry. The three LPU batteries were hung on a specially designed frame just aft of the ladder, and the two LPA batteries on a frame mounted between the cabin and instrument compartment.

In this photo you can see the LPU Battery Rack with three "Imitator" Batteries.
A special thermal regulating enclosure has been installed
 between the batteries and the rack.

   Mock-ups of these batteries are not installed on any of the five remaining LK and to the best of my knowledge no photographs of these batteries have been published. The only clues to the design of these batteries are "Imitators" on the LK at Orevo. and simplified images of the power supplies on drawings of the LK. From these we can get the basic size of the batteries, but very little detail 

Engineering drawing showing the relative size and basic

 configuration of the Power Supplies on the Lunniy Korabl.

   Until yesterday, this was all the information I had on the LK Power Supplies. And then ...

The cover of a NPP "Kvant set of Dimensional Drawings of  Block 820 circa 1968.

  I received an NPP "Kvant" document which provided the schematics, measurements, and performance specifications of the Power Supply designed for the 11F94! This is more than I was expecting. The drawings show all the measurements including details of attachment points, and cut away details of individual parts. To coin a phrase...

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' BOUT!!!"

   This just goes to show you that a little perseverance and a lot of patience goes a long way! And in all reality, this is what charges my Warp Drive! If you could have seen the spectacle I made as I was opening the emails, and seeing the documents download and open up. I was flipping out, jumping up and down, and doing my "Happy Dance"! Not a good thing to do with my body in the shape it's in, but when the excitement's this great, it's got to come out! But on the sober side of the spectrum, this gives me the encouragement to continue with this momentous task. There's still so much I don't understand about the Lunniy Korabl, but it's coming together bit by bit.

   I can't show the documents right now, but they will be shown in a future publication. In the meantime I will translate the documents (Soviet Engineering Drawings have their own "unique" font. It's not quite, but sort of, italics), and make the master for the Battery. From there I can mold and cast replicas.
   
   

*The batteries would be installed by a special team of experienced "mountain climbers". More on this in another entry.