Front. Mech. Eng.
2016, 11(1): 60–86
DOI 10.1007/s11465-016-0370-5
REVIEW ARTICLE
Mikhail MALENKOV
Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of
creation in episodes
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© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
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Abstract This report reviews the most important epi-
sodes in the history of designing the self-propelled
automatic chassis of the first mobile extraterrestrial vehicle
in the world, Lunokhod-1. The review considers the issues
in designing moon rovers, their essential features, and the
particular construction properties of their systems,
fp
mechanisms, units, and assemblies. It presents the results
of exploiting the chassis of Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2.
Analysis of the approaches utilized and engineering
solutions reveals their value as well as the consequences
of certain defects.
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Keywords moon rover, self-propelled chassis, propul-
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sion, wheel, suspension, soil properties, cross-country
ability
1 Introduction
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The aim of this article is to reconstruct the most important
events in the history of the creation of a unique technical
system, namely, the self-propelled automatic chassis of
Lunokhod-1.
In the American and Soviet missions to the Moon in
1969 and in the 1970s, the use of moving vehicles in these
expeditions was far ahead of its time and continues to be
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relevant in the 21st century. This relevance is evidenced by
the successful operation of US Mars rovers of various
classes and purposes as well as the involvement of an
increasing number of countries and international organiza-
tions in surface and environment study by contact
methods.
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To date, only the Chinese lunar mobile device, Yutu, in
which the wheel design shows the effect of the successful
Received July 27, 2015; accepted October 25, 2015
Mikhail MALENKOV ( ) ✉
Science and Technology Center “ROCAD” CJSC, Polytechnical
University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: m.i.malenkov@gmail.com
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operation of the Lunokhod-1 chassis, managed to leave its
track on the surface of the Moon in the new century.
Scientists and engineers show great interest in this task.
One example is the international youth competition of X-
Price Company for the best results in the realization of a
lunar mission.
The first serious publication about the design and results
of the operation of Lunokhod-1 and Luna-17 was the book
[1,2] published under the editorship of the Vice President
of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Academician A.
P. Vinogradov. It was the first precedent of the open
publication of technical details on the new space
technology in the USSR. The second volume of the book
[3], which was edited by corresponding member V. L.
Barsukova, was published in 1973. Both editions, in which
all systems of Lunokhod-1 are highlighted and the results
of investigations of its onboard scientific instruments and
equipment are provided, are well known in countries
interested in lunar exploration.
However, the authors did not disclose the creation
details, the scientific and industrial cooperation, and the
managers and leading specialists of the many groups
involved in the implementation of one of the greatest
technological achievements of the 20th century. All of the
participating individuals, including the chief designer of
Luna-17 and Lunokhod-1, G. N. Babakin, and the chief
designer of Lunokhod-1’s self-propelled chassis, A. L.
Kemurdjian, are featured in the list of authors of this book
and in the reports presented in international conferences
under their pseudonyms. Only the employees of the
institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR or
employees of closed institutions conditionally assigned to
the staff of these institutes could be published under their
names.
The subsequent editions, in which various aspects of the
design and operation of mobile lunar laboratories were
revealed, were kept within the frame of scientific and
technical literature. If in the first of them [4] the content
was about specific objects, the authors of subsequent
editions set the topic range more broadly, formulating
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
generalizations for wheeled and then wheeled-walking
planetary rovers with different characteristics and operat-
ing conditions [5–8]. In all of these editions, no
information about the authors was provided even though
they were already allowed to publish under their own
names.
Information breakthrough occurred in the 1990s. Writers
were then allowed to publish their analytical materials,
including historical analyses of space research. The first
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publication of this kind about planetary rovers was made
on the initiative and with the participation of A. L.
Kemurdjian [9–11]. He understood well that public
discussion of national priorities was a necessary condition
for the entrance of Russian enterprises to the international
market of space products and services.
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Such an understanding can be seen in various types of
publications devoted to the history and scientific and
technical developments of the creation of a new space
technology by Russian defense enterprises. Often, these
publications were dedicated to anniversaries and events
[12–16]. These publications were met by the international
community with much interest; their responses resonated
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in the new century [17].
In the 21st century, publications on Lunokhod-1 became
more open and widespread. They dealt with the historical
details of Lunokhod-1, the interaction of defense enter-
prises, the role of leaders and experts in the organization of
work, and the generation of technical ideas [18–33].
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However, most of these works were published in English.
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Unfortunately, the author is not sufficiently familiar with
the detailed analytical publications of foreign authors on
Lunokhod-1 [34]. This article was written specifically for
publication in the Proceedings of 2015 IFToMM Work-
shop on History of Mechanism and Machine Science. In
contrast to the abovementioned works, the current one
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seeks to consistently express all the important episodes of
the history of the creation of the self-propelled chassis of
Lunokhod-1 in VNII-100 to provide insights into scientific
and technical cooperation and to call all the managers and
leading specialists who influenced the technical config-
uration of this crucial system.
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2 Prehistory
The specialists of the Special Design Bureau No. 1
(Osoboe Konstruktorskoe Byuro: OKB-1) were those who
initiated the implementation of the lunar rover idea in the
of
1950s [18]. The enterprise, known now as Rocket and
Space Corporation (Raketno-Kosmicheskaya Korporat-
siya: RKK) “Energia”, was headed by S. P. Korolev since
its establishment (1946) and until the day of his death
(1966) [12].
The task was formulated at the national level in
Resolution 715-296 of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the USSR on 26th June, 1960 [35].
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61
Creation of the self-propelled chassis of the lunar rover
was commissioned by this resolution to the Moscow
Science Motor and Tractor Institute (NATI) known
nowadays as Science and Research Tractor Institute.
However, cooperation between OKB-1 and NATI
proved to be unsustainable, and in May of 1963, the
State Committee for Automotive and Agricultural
Machine-building informed the State Committee for
Defense Technology (GKOT) by letter about the request
of NATI to call off this commission from the institute.
In this situation, both the chairman of GKOT, S. A.
Zverev, and the curator of the defense industry on the part
of the ruling party, D. F. Ustinov, requested S. P. Korolev to
address the Science and Research Institute VNII-100,
which was also a structural part of GKOT similar to
OKB-1.
VNII-100, now called the All-Russia Research and
Development Institute of Transport Machine-building
(Vserossiyskyi Nauchno-Issledovatelskyi Institut Trans-
portnogo Mashinostroeniya: VNIITransmash) , was estab-
lished in 1949 by the Resolution of the Council of
Ministers of the USSR in the Leningrad sub-office of
the pilot plant No. 100 of the legendary Chelyabinsk
Tankograd; it was established as an integrated research
and development center for military track-type machines
[14].
Initially, the institute was located in the territory of
Kirovsky Zavod. However, in the end of 1950, it was
assigned a space of more than 2000 hm2 near Gorelovo
settlement, where the institute finally moved to in 1962
when its director was V. S. Starovoitov (Fig. 1 [24]). In
July of 1963, he employed OKB-1 specialist V. P. Zaytsev,
who presented him a proposal by S. P. Korolev to create the
lunar rover.
Fig. 1 V. S. Starovoitov (1919–2001) [24]
V. S. Starovoitov [36] accepted the unusual proposal.
Organization of work, promotion of the decisions made by
the Head Department (Glavnoe Upravlenie: GU) No. 12 of
the Ministry of the Defense Industry and leading experts
on tank engineering, and continued support for the space
subject in VNII-100 are personal achievements of the
director. In September 1963, he initiated the commission of
62 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86

the head of the Head Department (GU) No. 12 of the State
Committee for Defense Technology of the USSR to begin
the creation of the lunar rover [15,19].
The director assembled a team that could solve new
challenges and selected its leader. A. L. Kemurdjian was
appointed as the head of the Department of New Principles
of Movement (Department 25) [20] (Fig. 2). Previously,
this team had conducted a study on the creation of armored
hovercraft vehicles and provided expert advice.
This episode had no influence on the further develop-
ment of the lunar rover, and new designers did not even
know about it. However, the repeated appeals of S. P.
Korolev to tank and tractor builders who were creators of
transport vehicles with high cross-country ability appeared
to be important. Apparently, this particular property of the
future lunar rover had a high value to the chief designer of
space systems. He met like-minded fellows in VNII-100
(Fig. 3) [37].

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3 Development of the self-propelled
chassis

In 1963, the director of the institute, V. S. Starovoytov, and

ri the leader of works, A. L. Kemurdjian, considered building
a space transport machine not as an individual task but as a
strategic objective of creating a new field of studies.
Their approach made it possible to create a relevant
experimental production base from the ground up. It
required the development of the transport vehicle theory
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Fig. 2 A. L. Kemurdjian (1921–2003) [24]
As discovered in the beginning of the new century
[21,22], it was not the first proposal of the chief designer of
OKB-1. According to the science secretary of the Research
and Development Council (NTS) of the tank-designing
department of Leningrad Kirovsky Zavod (LKZ) A. K.
of
applicable to locomotion on the surface of the Moon, Mars,
and its secondary planet Phobos. This resulted not only in
the creation of various locomotion systems but also in the
development of the Russian School of Planetary Rover
Design [23,24].
3.1 Structure, properties, and problems of planet rover

Dzvyago, a similar proposal was made in 1959 in a letter to design

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Zh. Ya. Kotin, who was the head of this collective and later
the first director of VNII-100.
Zh. Ya. Kotin ordered the study of the issue and took
part in the discussion of the results in a special meeting of
NTS, which took place in 1961. However, the chief
designer of Soviet heavy tanks refused to further
ri
A planet rover is a spacecraft designed as a transport
vehicle with high cross-country capability. It is delivered to
the place of its exploration by a spaceship and is intended
for the transportation and operation maintenance of the
scientific equipment installed on it as well as the

participate in the project. transportation of cosmonauts on the surface of planets,

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Fig. 3 Leading specialists of space studies, 1971 [37]

(Left to right) top row: N. E. Bechvay, B. V. Gladkih, V. M. Tarasov, V. V. Gromov, A. I. Egorov, V. V. Grinev, V. Lashkov, V. N. Petriga and G. N.
Korepanov; middle row: V. I. Komissarov, I. I. Rozentsveyg, V. K. Mishkinyuk, A. F. Kudryavtsev, B. V. Mitin, P. S. Sologub, R. L. Byhovskaya, V. I.
Egorov, M. N. Pligin, B. P. Zarubin, and B. M. Lubenko; bottom row: A. P. Bravchuk, L. O. Vaysfeld, L. N. Polyakov, M. B. Shvartsburg, A. L.
Kemurdzhian, A. F. Solovev, M. I. Malenkov, and A. M. Nosov

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 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
secondary planets, and other celestial bodies. If a planet
rover is controlled by a cosmonaut on board, it is classified
as a piloted vehicle. In case of other control methods,
planet rovers are classified as automatic (robotic) vehicles
with different degrees of autonomy.
From the beginning, the Soviet lunar rover was designed
as an automatic vehicle with remote control. The project of
building a “mooncraft” (Lunnyi Korabl: LK) developed at
the end of 1964 in OKB-1 within the complex No. N1-L3
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did not include the lunar rover (Fig. 4 [12]). The
“mooncraft” with a height of 5.2 m had to have a landing
mass of 5560 kg and a takeoff mass of 3800 kg. It was
designed for one cosmonaut; the second one had to wait for
the first one’s return from the moon surface inside the
moon orbital spaceship. The designers of the former OKB-
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1 returned to the objective of building a manned lunar
rover only in 1974 when they developed technical
proposals for the “Zvezda” moon expeditionary complex
[12].
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Fig. 4 Layout of the moon craft in accordance with the N1-L3
project [12]
1–Moon landing unit; 2–Rocket unit E; 3–Cosmonaut cabin; 4–Life
support system units; 5–Observation device; 6–Attitude engine unit; 7–
Radiators of the temperature-control system; 8–Docking unit
The proposed definition of the automatic planet rover
of
allows for the specification of its most significant proper-
ties and can serve as a basis for comparative analysis of
engineering solutions at different stages of the design
process. Thus, the main properties of the planet rover as a
spacecraft are minimum mass and stowed dimensions,
reliability, stability, strength, and resistance to various
external factors. By the start of work on the lunar rover, a
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63
certain experience in the design and maintenance of the
Spacecraft (Kosmicheskyi apparat: KA) system set proper-
ties was already gained. This included navigation, power
supply, telecommunication, and thermocontrol systems.
The main properties of the planet rover as a means of
transport (TS) are cross-country capability, maneuverabil-
ity, steerability, load capacity, stability against overturning,
road-holding ability, and cruising range [5]. Altogether,
these properties reflect performance quality, i.e., the
transport function of a vehicle often called mobility.
Mobility mainly depends on the locomotion system, that
is, the self-propelled chassis that directly interacts with the
surface of the area on the Moon and Mars selected for
landing. The time spent moving from Point A to Point B
within the limits of the set area with unprepared terrain can
be regarded as a generalized characteristic of mobility. The
more difficult the route is and the lower the set speed of
locomotion is, the stronger a planet rover’s cross-country
capability is. The degree of its adaptation to terrain and soil
properties affects its mobility.
Cross-country capability characterizes the capability of a
planet rover to move over the surface of celestial bodies at
a given speed without loss of mobility and with minimal
deviations from the prescribed route to bypass obstacles. In
literature, a distinction is made between “relief” cross-
country capability and “soil” cross-country capability. In
the first case, the geometric characteristics of the terrain are
utilized as criteria. These characteristics can be the
maximum height of a step and separate rocks that are
crossed by the planet rover without obstacle avoidance.
The most universal characteristic value of “soil” cross-
country capability over lunar regolith and loose soil is the
slope climbing angle. Uniform locomotion on steep slopes
is considered a calculation scheme for traction and
dynamic calculation and selection of the electromechanical
drive for motor-in-wheels.
Therefore, the main problem in the early stages of the
design was the lack of a physical model of lunar soil.
Various opinions on the consistency and strength of the top
cover of the surface of the Moon existed. For example, it
was assumed that in the absence of air and under low
gravity, the surface of the Moon over millions of years of
bombardment should be covered with a layer of extremely
fine-grained loose material. The imaginary lunar soil could
be a kind of suspension of poorly connected particles.
Aside from leading Soviet and American astronomers,
prominent scientists from other branches of science, such
as Nobel laureate P. L. Kapitsa, shared approximately the
same view. According to P. S. Sologub, one of the leaders
in the development of Lunokhod-1, this was manifested in
one of the meetings attended by the prominent Soviet
physicist in Moscow in 1960.
The most vital topic of discussion at that time was the
means of locomotion over the surface of the Moon. The
participants argued about the benefits and drawbacks of
64 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
wheeled and tracked propulsion and discussed walking and
other similar means of locomotion possible in case the
surface was solid.
Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa began his emotional speech
while on his way to the podium, as the witnesses tell, with
these words: “What they say here? What wheels!? What
tracks!? On the Moon they must move this way!” He
moved his hands and body vigorously, similar to the
process of poling in a boat on shallow water. However, the
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theory that the Moon has a solid surface also had
supporters. K. Feoktistov, who was one of the famous
project engineers of OKB-1 and later a pilot-cosmonaut,
expressed this idea very clearly when he said that it is
possible to ride a regular bike across the Moon.
The members of Gorkovskiy Research and Develop-
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ment Radio-physical Institute (now Nizhniy Novgorod
Research and Development Radio-physical Institute,
NIRFI) presented the winning arguments to start the
formulation of a modern perception of lunar soil density.
Their studies of the Moon conducted by means of radar
showed that its surface is a cohesive although reprocessed
and deformable environment. These considerations were
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expressed in the working hypothesis of the lunar soil
model that was developed in the technical meeting initiated
by VNII-100 with the support of OKB-1 and the
Interdepartmental Science and Technology Council
(Mezhvedomstvennyi Nauchno-Tekhnicheskyi Sovet:
MNTS) on space studies. The meeting was held in
of
Kharkov Astronomical Observatory in March 1964. The
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meeting was participated by astronomers N. P. Barabashov
(Kharkov University), V. Sharonov (Leningrad Univer-
sity), V. S. Troitskiy (head of radar research, NIRFI,
Gorkiy), Y. P. Efremov (MNTS on KI, Moscow), V. P.
Zaytsev and V. V. Molodtsov (OKB-1), and A. L.
Kemurdjian and A. P. Sofian (VNII-100).
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According to the hypothesis, the most likely model for
the calculation of lunar soil was the statement, “it is silicate
rocks in foam-porous or fractured state, consisting of
40%–70% SiO, 10%–20% of Al2O3, the rest-iron oxides,
calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium, which
corresponds volcanic tuffs, slag or pyroclastic materials
on Earth. Strongly reworked under vacuum, hard radia-
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tion, solar wind, and meteorite impacts, leading to excision
of rock and soil formation of a special ‘lunita’, which has
no direct analogues in the world. The top cover has
strength of 0.2–1.0 kg/cm2” [18].
In 1964, a wagon of rock in the abovementioned form of
“pored foam” was delivered to VNII-100 upon the contract
of
with Armenian SSR Scientific Research Institute of Rock
and Silicates for the creation of ground channels. It was
pumice-stone, slaggy lava, and tuff from Armenian
deposit.
Despite the efforts of VNII-100 and OKB-1 employees
to grant the coordinated decision on the status of the
official model of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR,
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they did not succeed. Academicians did not push forward.
The document suggested a high level of responsibility.
S. P. Korolev took the responsibility in this key issue. On
October 28 in 1964, in response to the increasingly
insistent complaints from the designers of lunar landers
about the absence of an approved model of the lunar
surface, he wrote a short reference (Fig. 5) [12].
Several researchers and journalists tend to see in this
reference signs of solving technical problems by volitional
methods. However, many experts, including the author, see
in this episode a reflection of the talent, intuition,
performance, and understanding of S. P. Korolev of his
role as the chief designer.
3.2 Initial organization of the work and visit of S. P.
Korolev
A. L. Kemurdjian formed a small group on the base of
Department 25, with the objective to determine if a self-
propelled chassis can be created for the lunar rover. The
group included I. I. Rozentsveig, V. I. Komissarov, A. V.
Mitskevich, and V. K. Mishkinyuk. In October 1963, the
first structural unit of space studies, i.e., Office 255, was
created by this group. When the first contract with OKB-1
was signed, the name “Shar” appeared as a theme code.
Experts from main tank departments of the institute were
also involved in the work of the office. Many of them
became employees of the space departments.
Consequently, several design layouts of the lunar rover
and individual technical solutions regarding its units were
established. This made it possible to represent the
engineering concept of the lunar rover, conduct an analysis
of its weight, make first calculation estimates of its traction
characteristics, cross-country capability, and durability of
propulsion, and analyze the materials and lubricants in
relation to the machinery in a vacuum. The initial data for
traction calculation were obtained, and recommendations
regarding the technical design specification of the lunar
rover were provided.
On May 31, 1964, the institute was secretly visited by S.
P. Korolev. He was accompanied by deputies M. K.
Tikhonravov, S. S. Kryukov, and K. D. Bushuev as well as
engineers V. P. Zaytsev and V. V. Molodtsov. On the
weekend, S. P. Korolev was accompanied by his wife Nina
Ivanovna. At the end of the day and their stay in Leningrad,
the couple visited the Russian Museum.
On the part of VNII-100, aside from the director and
manager of works, I. I. Rozentsveig, G. N. Moskvin, P. N.
Brodskiy, F. I. Abramov, V. I. Komissarov, and D. Y.
Klyatskin also stayed as guests in the tank institute. The
author, who began his work for VNII-100 in November
1965, attempted to reconstruct the exact details of that visit
based on the accounts of the direct participants of those
events.
Distinguished guests saw the production and laboratory
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes 65

base, armored vehicles, and large kennel that was

necessary for safeguarding the area of more than 2000
hm2; it was a real pride of the director.
The model of the device for the physical and mechanical
properties (FMP) of lunar soil had already been produced
by that time. A so-called “top brass effect” occurred during
its demonstration; the device stopped and did not fulfill a
task. The designer of the device, P. N. Brodskiy, secretly
(as it seemed to him) helped it with his arm, and the

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demonstration finished successfully. However, according
to the designer and witnesses of this episode, S. P. Korolev
noticed this nudging and at the end of the meeting, he said,
“it is not possible to help with a finger on the Moon”.
The main report on the possibility of creating the lunar
rover was provided by A. L. Kemurdjian. He reported on
Fig. 5 Autograph of S. P. Korolev (the abbreviations are given
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the project designs of the lunar rover with different below with a detailed transcription) reference [12]
methods of locomotion and discussed expected problems, The calculation of the moon craft landing should be made for quite hard
such as uncertainty of the lunar soil properties, absence of soil of pumice type
experience in vehicle operation in a high vacuum, imitation Vertical speed is ≈ 0 m/sec when going down at h = 1 m +
of the gravity field of the Moon during performance trials, Lateral speed should be almost ≈ 0 m/s
the huge range of operational temperatures, and the 28th of October, 1964 S. P. Korolev
absence of a laboratory and production base. He also
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paid attention to the impossibility of realizing several
points of the technical design specification developed by
the project division of OKB-1. For example, the project
engineers set the locomotion speed to 20 km/h and the
driving distance across the Moon at 10000 km.
According to I. I. Rozentsveig, S. P. Korolev reacted by
of
However, he did not reveal his opinion on this issue and
finished the discussion with the words, “you are the experts
in this topic, so make the choice yourself ” [18].
S. P. Korolev’s visit to VNII-100 prompted the decision
on the solution to the organizational, financial, and
manufacturing tasks of developing a new field of work,

stating that [25] “all your proposals and asks are
nt
reasonable. Financing will be provided, special block
should be built, allied experts will work. We will also assist
with vacuum trials. Now a big government regulation
regarding the item N-1 is being prepared, all your
proposals should be included in it”.
Then, S. P. Korolev approached the poster with the
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including the creation of a closed testing area in Gorelovo
near the VNIITransmash building of the All-Russian
Research and Development and Technologic Institute
(VNITI). Later, A. L. Kemurdjian, remembering this
visit, said many times that “Sergey Pavlovich made the
final decision to create the lunar rover and assign that
work to VNII-100”.

picture of the future moon rover equipped with tracked
propulsion and said, “creating space objects, the main
thing is reliability! We should not set records. It will be the
first vehicle. No one before us was on the Moon, this is a
first in the world automated device. It is unknown how to
control a vehicle from Earth, how materials and lubricant
will behave in space vacuum. That is why we should lower
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We should note that S. P. Korolev was one of the creators
of the space research in the tank institute. In the end of
1964, the document of the regular contract with OKB-1 for
a sum of 4 million rubles, which was a significantly large
amount of money at that time, was returned to the institute
unsigned. The cover letter stated that another organization
would handle the project.

performance parameters… It is necessary that the lunar
rover run across the Moon at least 10 km with not very
high speed…. This became unexpectedness not only for us,
developers, but also for other employees of OKB-1, who
have stood up for the necessity of ‘Earth’ characteristics of
the self-propelled platform for a year” [25].
of
The management of the institute was shocked. A. L.
Kemurdjian attempted to contact the chief designer. He
was in Leningrad at one of the plants. S. P. Korolev said in
response to the sacramental question “what to do?
Consider that the contract is signed, return it addressed
to my name, work calm”. The contract was sent back to

The chief designer showed much respect to the designers
from VNII-100 and was careful during the discussion of
the key issue of selecting a method of locomotion. The
reporter finished analyzing why walking, jumping, creep-
ing, rolling over, and other exotic methods were rejected.
He formulated the conclusion that for further development,
wheeled and tracked propulsions had been selected.
Everyone waited for the reaction of S. P. Korolev.
Moscow. In the beginning of 1965, it was returned with the
signature of S. P. Korolev [25].
3.3 Beginning of work in cooperation with OKB of the
S. A. Lavochkin Plant
In July of 1964, the first report on “Shar” was published as
“determination of the possibility and idea of creating a self-

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66 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
propelled chassis for Lunokhod-1”. In the same month, a
decision to create a thermal vacuum laboratory was made.
V. M. Tarasov became its head. I. I. Rozentsveig played a
big role in its organization, equipment, and development
when he supervised this division as the deputy head of the
department and when he became its head.
In October 1964, a large group of specialists from the
institute who previously participated in the design of
individual parts was transferred to Department 25 by the
nt
order of the director. This move made it possible to create a
head laboratory of general machines and unit development
(under the leadership of P. S. Sologub), Konstruktorskoe
Byuro (KB) of this laboratory (V. I. Komissarov),
laboratory of electrical drive (A. M. Nosov, then A. F.
Solovyov who later became deputy chief designer), and
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laboratory of information and measurements (V. Gorevoy
and L. K. Kogan).
Later, a KB of fine mechanics (P. N. Brodskiy), a
laboratory of running trials in different periods of time
headed by Y. P. Kitlyash, I. M. Khovanov, V. N. Petriga,
and V. V. Gromov, and a small but highly skilled production
unit (heads of the unit in various periods: A. A. Kokhan, S.
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V. Tatyblin, and V. A. Kozyrev) were created.
On February 10, 1965, the assignment to VNII-100 that
concerned the creation of a self-propelled chassis for the
lunar rover and was already being fulfilled; it was approved
and detailed by Decision 23 of the Military-Industrial
Commission (Voenno-Promyshlennaya Komissiya) of the
of
Council of Ministers of the USSR [15]. The institute
nt
(Fig. 6) was granted a right to increase the number of
employees to 150 people. Further executive decisions and
decrees of the minister included measures for maintenance
of VNII-100 work on the lunar rover chassis, particularly
the building of a laboratory and manufacturing blocks.
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Fig. 6 Main block of VNII-100—VNIITransmash in Gorelovo (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
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However, because of the lack of funding, construction of
buildings began only in the middle 1970s.
Fundamental reorganization of work, involvement of
new intellectual resources at full capacity, strong influence
on the creative process of young managers, researchers,
and designers, all of this had the most beneficial effects.
Research became systematic, and design, engineering
development, and calculations became more detailed and
clear.
The number of engineers was approximately 35 to 40 in
the beginning of 1965, and the average age of the
employees did not exceed 26. The latter gave the head a
reason to answer the question of how he could solve this
unusual problem starting from the ground up with the joke:
“We were young and did not understand this”.
In May of 1965, the second report on “Shar” was
published; it was called “development of chassis of the
self-propelled automatic device for exploration of the
Moon”. Its content reflected the changes in the organiza-
tion of tasks. The report was based on new project
developments, the results of propulsion model trials, and
trials of the lunar rover test mules held in the ground
channels.
In autumn of the same year, the entire complex of work
on interplanetary automatic stations, including the devel-
opment of the lunar rover, was transferred by S. P. Korolev
to the special design bureau (OKB) named after S. A.
Lavochkin. With the assistance of S. P. Korolev, the
introductory period passed by quickly, and good business
relations with a new customer, known now as S. A.
Lavochkin Association (NPOL), were established at all
levels. A significant contribution was provided by the chief
designer of Luna-17 and Lunokhod-1, G. N. Babakin
[13,16,26–28], A. L. Kemurdjian who was the chief
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
designer of the self-propelled automatic chassis of the
lunar rover, and their supporters. They laid the
foundation for the future long-term cooperation of
enterprises and teams [9,10].
The institute focused its efforts on creating a self-
propelled chassis (Fig. 7) with an automatic control unit
and a system of locomotion safety. It was the first time in
the history of the institute when it had to deliver models
and flight prototypes as well as conduct acceptance of
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delivery (Priemo-Sdatochnye Ispytaniay: PSI), qualifica-
tion tests, and inspection-sampling tests.
The Central Office of Spacecrafts of the Ministry of
Defense created a representative office for the customer in
the institute to control the progress and quality of work. Its
first head, E. A. Sekerzhitskiy, who had vast experience in
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the organization of such work, significantly helped the
divisions of the chief designer, chief engineer, and
technical control services.
However, several difficulties were encountered. Build-
ing relationships with the structures of the Ministry of the
Defense Industry was not easy. The civil and science
division of space research on the moon surface and other
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planets did not meet the main objectives of the Ministry.
An opinion inside the institute was that the work related
with space studies was not typical for the dedicated experts
and was conducted at the price of the main tank sphere.
The Party Committee of the institute even recommended
shutting down the work in the field of space studies.
of
The main technical problems remained the right choice
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of the self-propelled chassis model, its design layout,
structure and parameters of its units, and its mechanical,
electric, and information interaction with the systems of
the lunar rover. All technical solutions had to consider
restrictions on mass, size, and power consumption as well
as the consequences of unfavorable factors during the
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delivery of the lunar rover as a part of the lunar station and
its operation. The set source was three Earth months, and
ensuring the operation of the device without the need for
servicing and repair was necessary.
The development of the concept and structure of the
self-propelled chassis was implemented by the general
machine laboratory. The key role was played by the
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of
Fig. 7 Tank testing area of VNII-100 with the first models of the moon rover: (a) With wheeled running gear and (b) with tracked
running gear (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
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67
Design Bureau (KB) of the laboratory, where three design
and engineering groups were organized. The ideologist of
the track chassis was the head of the rover group,
experienced designer and tank-driver M. B. Shvartsburg.
Of course, this option was more acceptable to the leaders
and many other members of the institute who were not
directly related to the development of the lunar rover. After
all, they were the employees and patriots of the tank
institute of the USSR.
The consistent position of the laboratory head, P. S.
Sologub, was important for the reasoning of the wheeled
chassis. He was supported by the head of the design
department, V. I. Komissarov, and the head of the layout
design group, V. K. Mishkinyuk. The research of V. V.
Gromov was of considerable importance for the selection
of the type and geometry parameters of the propulsion. A.
L. Kemurdjian passed to him the task of studying the
problems of interaction with lunar soil. The staff of the
department of tracked vehicles of Bauman Moscow Higher
Technical School headed by V. N. Naumov, were engaged
in this task as well.
The head of the transmission group, G. N. Korepanov,
was ready to realize any of the models. The head of the
calculation sector of the chief laboratory, F. P. Shpak,
maintained his neutrality, which was normal for a third
party [29].
A struggle existed with regard to the opinion of the chief
designer. It was probably the most difficult period in the
formation of the space studies team of VNIITransmash.
Having the acknowledged authority and diplomatic skills
of A. L. Kemurdjian was necessary to prevent the team
from splitting up. According to him, selecting the correct
method of propulsion took two years.
To the credit of the team and, of course, its leaders, when
the choice was made in favor of wheeled propulsion, those
who previously opposed the idea managed to overcome
their personal sentiments. The delicate but strong spoke
wheels with a mesh rim and a mass of only 2.7 kg were
created exactly as the rover group planned in cooperation
with Kharkov Central Designing Bureau of Velocipede
Building. They provided the good traction characteristics
of Lunokhod-1 in rectilinear locomotion and turning.
68 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
3.4 Space experiments
In the new cooperation, the work achieved the level
corresponding to the grand pioneering task. Particularly,
space experiments aimed at solving the most challenging
issues in designing the lunar rover (e.g., determining the
physical and mechanical properties of lunar soil and
estimating the working capacity of the heavily loaded
friction couples in space) were conducted.
nt
In February 1966, Luna-9, as revised by NPOL, made a
soft landing for the first time. Luna-9 provided the first
reliable information about the properties of lunar soil. This
landing was followed by special experiments aboard the
station Luna-13 for the FMP assessment of lunar soil using
a mechanical ground meter penetrometer and radiation
density meter.
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These flights revealed that the answer to the question of
the Moon surface’s hardness was somewhere in the middle
of the abovementioned judgments [4]. The regolith
deformed easily under pressure, but the more it was
pressed, the better its load-bearing strength was.
The scheme of the ground meter and the measuring
fp
method offered by V. V. Gromov and A. L. Kemurdjian
together with I. I. Cherkasov from the Moscow Institute of
Basements and Foundations made it possible to estimate
the lunar soil load-bearing strength under natural condi-
tions. The idea of the experiment was discussed at a
meeting in the Academy of Sciences of the USSR with the
of
participation of its president, M. V. Keldysh.
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The designers of S. A. Lavochkin OKB released
engineering documentation based on this scheme; the
manufacturing process was organized at the S. A.
Lavochkin Plant (Fig. 8), which helped prevent blaming
in the use of the test production facilities of VNII-100 by
non-core workers at a price of the tank industry [11].
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The device (Fig. 8(b)) consists of a plastic housing, the
lower part of which forms an annular die with a maximum
diameter of 120 mm and an indenter with a titanium
conical part. The taper angle of the indenter cone is 130°,
and the maximal diameter of the cone is 35 mm. The
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of
Fig. 8 (a) Landing unit of Luna-13 station in deployed configuration; (b) soil measuring penetrometer with a pushed-out indenter [4]
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indenter can be pushed out of the housing down to a
distance of 50 mm under the action of a small jet-engine
nozzle directed upward. The engine thrust is 65 N, and the
pulse duration is 0.8 s.
Luna-13 landed near the western edge of the Ocean of
Storms, a typical flat seaside area. Onboard manipulators
removed the die block of the ground meter and the
radiation density meter and placed them on the soil (Fig. 8
(a); a small part on the extreme left). After the jet engine
was activated, the indenter was buried in the lunar soil to
almost 45 mm depth.
Telemetric information processing made it possible to
measure the FMP parameters of lunar soil and revealed that
the load-bearing capacity was 44 kPa and internal cohesion
was 0.5 kPa in the case of single-axis loading. The internal
friction angle was 32°. With the radiation density meter,
the range of possible values of the top layer of the soil was
estimated to be 0.8 to 2.1 g/cm³.
In cooperation with Lavochkin Plant, VNII-100 mana-
ged to conduct tribological studies of the friction couples in
open space, the possibility of which was discussed by the
initiators of the experiments, A. L. Kemurdjian and S. P.
Korolev.
At that time, the individuals involved in the project
feared that the movement of highly mechanical gears in a
vacuum would be accompanied by the sticking and
solidification of the materials. A number of scientists
even assumed that welding could occur because of the high
voltage in contact and the possible absence of separating
films. Existing experience on the operation of space
mechanisms covered only lightly loaded instruments
usually used for a one-time action [8].
Experimental assemblies (R-1) were designed for the
purpose of research (Fig. 9). Five of such assemblies were
tested in open space, on the outer surfaces of the Moon,
and in the orbital KA of Luna-11, Luna-12, and Luna-14.
The space experiments were conducted with different
combinations of construction and lubricating materials of
the friction couples. Simulteneously, three units of R-1
with different components were installed on Luna-14.
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes 69

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Fig. 9 Experimental assembly of R-1: (a) Scheme; (b) photograph (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
1–Supporting block of the tested gear pair; 2–Kinematic pair; 3–Magnetic coupling; 4–Electric motor; 5–Sensors of temperature; 6–Sealings; 7–Pressure-
sealed connectors; 8–Torsional spring; 9–Tested gear pair

The purposes of the assemblies were the comparative Institute of Materials Technology (Institut Problem
of

evaluation of the working capacity and efficiency of the
nt
loaded gears at work in the vacuum of space and parallel
thermal vacuum testing on Earth. Each assembly served as
a board test stand for gears on a closed circuit with power
together with electronics designed to interface with the
assemblies with onboard equipment stations. The assem-
blies were developed by the head of KB, V. I. Komissarov,
under the short-term control of P. S. Sologub.
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Materialovedeniya), Academy of Sciences of the Ukrai-
nian SSR, under the leadership of I. Radomyselskiy.
This experience was the first for the institute in terms of
delivering a flight model to the S. A. Lavochkin Plant for
installation on board KA. This is why the creation of the R-
1 model inspired a school of development and delivery of
space technology items. The author was lucky to
participate in offline tests and integrated verifications of

The selected model provided relatively high contact
stress in gear (approximately 5000 kg/cm2, as per Hertz
formula), with the driving motor having a small mass (only
1.5 kg) and small power (less than 3 W); the energy was
used only to compensate for the losses in gears and ball
bearings.
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all three sets of R-1 models at the control and test station of
the plant and at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The tests were conducted successfully. Luna-11 was in
orbit for approximately 34 days, and the length of
operation of the R-1 unit was 5 hours. The following
experiments were longer, and the operation of the R-1 unit

The unit fulfilled commands and the transmission of
telemetric information about the temperature of the
housing and drive motor current on Earth. This ability
allowed scientists to determine the shaft torque and
calculate the efficiency coefficient. The electronic unit
was developed by engineer V. Gorev in the laboratory of
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took dozens of hours. All friction couples with self-
lubricating materials, grease, and powder lubricants
worked stably.
Although the frictional characteristics were different,
sticking and solidification did not occur. These results
strengthened the designers’ confidence in the correctness

electric drive and measurements. Construction of the unit
was developed by the design department of fine
mechanics.
Metal-ceramics on the iron base with glass inclusions,
recommended by the specialists of the thermal vacuum
laboratory for the production of the gears of the first flight
model R-1, were created in accordance with the technical
design specification of VNII-100 and produced at the Kiev
of the selected materials and methods of simulating
mechanisms in space within laboratory conditions.
4 Chassis construction and ground testing
Successful experiments conducted in space and in
laboratories encouraged the development of the chassis.

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70 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86

The advantages of the wheel became increasingly obvious;

the center of a wheel was a good place to install a traction
electromechanical drive with planetary reduction gear.
Almost all subsystems, units, and complex and critical
parts and assemblies were tested on a competitive basis.
These parts had 2 to 3 design variants, which became a
subject of in-depth and detailed discussions many times in
the KB of the general machines laboratory. Aside from
engineers, experts in electric drive and automation,

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material and thermal experts, and test and technology
engineers of the test production often participated.
Keen discussions with the participation of the chief
Fig. 10 Scheme of the self-propelled chassis in conjunction with
designers first occurred at the drawing boards of the project the Lunokhod-1 container (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
engineers of the layout design group. Then, when the 1–Left wheel unit; 2–Right wheel unit; 3–Right carrier; 4–Pallet of the
general concept of the chassis became increasingly clear, container; 5–Left carrier; 6–Container; 7–Cross-country ability assess-
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the discussions moved to the drawing boards of the ment device; 8–Chassis automation control unit
engineers of the rover and transmission. Propulsion,
suspension, and traction drive, which determine the
technical and design appearance of a new vehicle in the
best manner, were drawn in detail. Changing the discus-
sion environment was simple because all the KB staff were
housed in the same room.
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4.1 Concept of the self-propelled chassis

The chassis concept is defined by its structure, type of

components, and characteristics of the interfaces. The
chassis consists of supporting structure, chassis (including
of

the propulsion and the mechanisms of its suspension),

nt
individual wheel traction electromechanical drives, chassis
automation control unit (Blok Avtomatiki Shassi: BASh), a
set of built-in sensors and a subsystem of locomotion
safety (including drive built-in sensors and release
mechanisms and a trim and list sensor (Datchik krena I
differenta: DKD) built into the housing of BASh), and an
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individual on-board maneuverability assessment device

(Pribor Otzenki Prokhodimosti: PrOP) with an odometer
(ninth free-rolling wheel) [1,8].
The release mechanisms provide an opportunity for the Fig. 11 Scheme of the integration of the self-propelled chassis
controlled disconnection of the kinematic chain “traction with the sealed container (plan view) (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
drive-propulsion”. Blacking of the gear was the main issue 1–Left block of wheels; 2–Right block of wheels; 3–Right carriers; 4–
that could require the disconnection of this chain. Sensor of roll and trim; 5–Left carriers; 6–Cables; 7–Device for cross-
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The type and configuration of the load-bearing structure
of the chassis were defined during the process of mutual
work with Lavochkin Plant. The chassis consists of four
carriers attached to a bearing bottom plate of the lunar
rover sealed container (Figs. 10, 11, and 12 [1]). To
separate the construction of the chassis and container,
of
country ability estimation equipped with 9th wheel; 8–Automatic unit
of chassis; V–Direction of forward locomotion; v–Direction of extreme
wheels sliding during turning to the right; B–Track; L–Wheel base
An eight-wheel model was considered for wheeled
propulsion. It fit well into the dimensions of the landing

which were developed by different organizations, the
support and guide mechanisms of suspension had to be
placed exactly in the carriers. Such a solution eliminated
the need for the frame, which was developed as a tool
required only during verifications and model trials. The
carriers had so many functions that their construction and
technology were improved by dozens of specialists. The
most prominent specialist was N. E. Bechvai.
unit of the moon station and met the requirements of high
cross-country capability and stability in fulfilling the main
transportation function of the chassis. Particularly, the
eight-wheel model provided motion in case of the
emergency release of two or even three wheels. The
requirement of approximate equality (in terms of cross-
country capability) of the forward and reverse motions of
the vehicle was fulfilled.

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 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
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Fig. 12 Motor-in-wheel module of Lunokhod-1 self-propelled
chassis (drawing by V. V. Grinev) [1]
1–Middle hoop; 2–Lug; 3–Outermost hoop; 4–Net; 5–Jet propulsion;
6–Carrier; 7–Fasciculate torsional bar; 8–Balance of the suspension; 9–
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Reaction arm; 10–Electric traction drive; 11–Spoke; 12–Wheel hub
The construction provided the possibility of connecting
the structure of the chassis to all embedded individual
drives of each wheel and the sensors of the information
system to four aggregates similar in terms of construction
of
or just modules of the motor-in-wheel. This setup
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minimized the terms and number of tests and increased
the reliability of the chassis.
“Tracked trace” was selected as an 88 wheel formula.
Calculations and trials of the eight-wheel models demon-
strated confident maneuvering of the chassis on different
types of soil with tank or board rotation. Steering
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mechanisms were not required in this method; they only
increased unsprung masses and decreased the reliability of
the transportation function.
Board rotation of the lunar rover was accomplished by
controlling the rotational speed of the wheels on the
opposite sides. Reverse of boards allowed the rover to turn
with a radius of zero (so-called “turn on the spot”). To
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reduce the sliding resistance of the wheels, lugs were used
at an angle to the generatrix of the wheel rim (Fig. 11).
This setup led to the right and left blocks of motor-in-
wheels having different lug patterns, stops, and arrange-
ments of the cables connecting the blocks to the container.
The idea of “tracked trace” was also an eight-diagram
of
concept; if necessary, it could relatively and easily be
transformed into two-track propulsion.
No significant arguments existed about the type of
suspension. The locomotion of the multi-wheeled lunar
rover with a mass of 700 to 800 kg and speed of 1 to 2 km/h
on difficult terrain required the use of elastic suspension
wheels capable of large movements that could be obtained
by using oscillating rockers.
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71
Suspension was intended to solve two problems: To
improve floatation and cross-country capability and to
provide the amplitude-frequency oscillation characteristics
of the sprung part suitable for the on-board equipment.
Therefore, the choice of suspension parameters, as a rule,
was the result of a compromise among project engineers,
designers, and calculators of traction and performance
characteristics, smoothness of movement, and stability
against overturning.
The front suspension had a stiffness of approximately
8800 N/m and static deflection of 21 mm. The middle
wheel suspension was softer at 3500 N/m, and its static
deflection was 60 mm. The dynamic deflection of all the
wheel suspensions was 100 mm. The swing angles of the
beams within a specified course were limited by stops.
These characteristics provided the contact of all wheels
with the soil in overcoming a height of up to 400 mm by
the middle wheels and running down by the side wheels of
the offset height up to 400 mm without breakdown of the
suspension.
The suspensions were made according to the scheme of
a longitudinal arm swing, with transverse positioning of
elastic elements. Damping vibration energy when moving
the lunar rover was due to losses in the suspension joints
and wheels and contact with the soil.
To construct the wheels, designers adopted the max-
imum possible wheel diameter with lugs of 510 mm.
Various suggestions were provided for the wheels’
properties when in contact with the lunar regolith and in
areas with lunar surface rock outcrops.
The concept of the self-propelled chassis also considered
the properties of the remote control of the moon craft and
ground control in the Deep-Space Communications Center
near Simferopol. When the recording of the multi-terrain
camera was reviewed, an operator saw on the screen a
picture shot a few seconds back. In addition, commands
reached the lunar rover with a certain delay. As a result,
from command to command, the lunar rover could drive
from 2.3 to 8.3 m depending on the operating mode
according to V. G. Dovgan, one of the drivers [30].
To prevent accidents that could lead to loss of stability
against overturning, overheating, and failure of the traction
motors, the security subsystem provided an automatic
“stop” command at the maximum possible angle of
inclination of the device and overcurrent limit. Periodic
measurements of the mechanical properties of lunar soil
samples by means of PrOP during the device stops
provided an insight into the strength of the soil in this
part of the track and allowed for the adjustment of the route
in a timely manner.
4.2 Construction of the wheel
Prior to the drawing of the wheel assembly with incoming
parts appearing at the drawing board, its fragments were
born on a plumbing workbench. A. P. Bravchuk, a
72 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
locksmith-tinsmith, produced dozens of models of rigid
and flexible experimental wheels with his hands, uncom-
plicated tools, and devices that he invented himself. The
task was provided to him by designers.
Rigid wheels (Fig. 13) included structures in which the
following condition is satisfied: The radial deformation of
the rim when compared with the deformation of the
supporting base in the range of workloads is negligible. In
the theory of wheeled vehicles, a rigid wheel contact
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surface is called a rim, and an elastic wheel is a tire. The
scan of the rim or the tire on the support plane is called the
treadmill, and the imprint of the wheels on the support
surface is called the spot or area of contact.
The concept of the chassis with board rotation left no
chance for elastic wheels because of the significant axial
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deformation of the tire. A tractive force of the rigid wheel
with a solid rim limited the coefficient of friction of metal
on soil. In tractor and tank propulsions, the traction is
increased by installing lugs, which are closely related to
the process of creating traction reserves for weakly
cohesive soil, internal cohesion, and friction particles.
However, making the rim sections between the lugs
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work more effectively posed a problem. During the tests,
the problem was solved by organizing the treadmill as a
uniform but not a solid structure. Designer A. I. Egorov
conducted tests with continuous, smooth, and cellular 150
mm170 mm stamps at a normal load of 500 N on
physical models of lunar soil. He found that the shear
of
strength reflecting the traction properties of a pair of wheel-
nt
soil in a cellular stamp formed in a grid on the die was 20%
to 40% higher than that of a plate on dry quartz sand. As a
result, an inelastic steel seamless mesh with a 3.5 mm3.5
mm cell and a wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm was selected
for the wheel of Lunokhod-1 as the treadmill. When the
size of the cell was increased further, the depth of
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immersion of the stamp into the soil increased substantially
with equal normal loads; such an increase was irrational.
The effect of grid work could be seen when the rover drove
on fresh soil without slipping.
This event was followed by wheel model tests in the
ground channel. These tests allowed the designers to
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Fig. 13 (a) Block of the motor-in-wheels of the moon rover’s self-propelled chassis; (b) a fragment of a rigid wheel spindle layout after
running trials (photo of an exhibit at the museum of VNIITransmash, courtesy of VNIITransmash)
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specify the step, height, shape, and final design of the lug
and wheel as a whole. The wheel had three profile-welded
titanium wraps topped with a grid, which is pressed by
means of rivets to the mean and extreme hoops with two
rows of oblique titanium lugs. The edges of the mesh were
sewn on the outer hoops. Installation of the lugs in the
ranks was the same but was shifted to a corner of a half
step. Therefore, a step in an outer hoop was two times
bigger than that in an average hoop.
The diameter of a middle hoop was slightly larger than
the diameter of the outer hoops. Hence, a radial sectional
profile of the rim was close to a large arc diameter. When
driving on a solid surface, such as rock outcrops, the wheel
achieves discrete point contact. Owing to the overlapping
of lugs on the middle rim, the smoothness of rolling was
improved. On soft soil, a lug does not have discrete
dynamic aspects because of the deformation of soil.
Each hoop was connected to the wheel hub with 16
conventional bicycle spokes, creating an extremely tough
and durable spatial relationship between the hub and the
rim. No extra elements nor extra metal existed in a wheel.
Even the lugs had holes; tests have shown that a decrease
in the contact area with the ground, subject to certain
proportions, does not reduce traction.
The wheel, a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 13,
underwent various running trials for several years. The
plastic deformation of individual lugs and local distortion
of the grid pattern were clearly visible. However, the wheel
did not lose its shape even when simulating an impact
weighing more than 700 kg at a maximum speed of 2 km/h
in an insurmountable obstacle when the dynamic force
reached 5000 N.
4.3 Testing of the suspension design
The main suspension design objective was a combination
of requirements: A large torsion bar spin angle with small
length limited by the dimensions of the carrier. The
solution was found in the process of mutual work of
designers, materials specialists, and technologists in the
form of a three-rod torsion bar beam from alloy VT22
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
(Fig. 14). Among many others, this decision increased
reliability. In case one of the beam rods fails, connected at
the ends by two clutches, the chassis retains mobility.
Tuning of torsion as well as coordination of the entire
process had become the life’s work of B. V. Gladkikh.
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Fig. 14 Beam torsion bar: Length 185 mm, rod diameter 8.5 mm
[1]
A structure of a wheel suspension guide mechanism was
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tested in the process of running trials; the structure was
originally a rocker. However, in this case, wheel reaction
torque circuited to the frame through the torsion bar. This
resulted first in vertical movements of the housing and
second in the tightening of torsion work modes.
The identified problem was quickly resolved by
executing guide mechanism suspension by a parallelogram
fp
scheme. In this case, wheel reaction torque circuited to the
frame by a pair of forces acting on the rocker joints and jet
thrust. Suspension torsion bars worked only when
activated by the action of forces normal to the support
surface.
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4.4 Electromechanical traction drive
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The traction drive has a simple kinematic diagram (Fig. 15
[4]) but a tight integration and highly complicated
conjugations of mechanical, electrical, pyrotechnic joints
and components (Fig. 16 [1]). According to the chassis
chief designer’s words, “creation of electromechanical
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transmission for the lunar rover is an undoubted success of
designers from the nodal design bureau, and first of all, a
talented designer, a head of the development G. N.
Korepanov” [15]. The group of transmission under his
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of
Fig. 15 Traction drive kinematic diagram [4]
1 –Wheel center; 2 –Gearbox housing (epicycle); 4 –Rocker;
5 –Reaction arm; 6 –Brake; 7 –Second row of the three-row planetary
gearbox; 8 –Lock release mechanism; 9 –Terminal flexible seal
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73
leadership included V. V. Grinev, E. N. Druyan, G. I. Rykov,
M. I. Malenkov, V. I. Koynash, and A. F. Konstantinova.
The simplicity of the scheme was due to the application
of a three-row planetary gearbox with “floating” (not
supported by bearings) rows. Geometrically, including
diametral pitch, number of teeth, and the original contour
of involute gear-tooth form system, the first two rows are
completely similar, and the third row has an increased
width of the teeth.
The gear ratio of each row is equal to 6; the total is 216.
During testing at the load bank at different temperatures
with different materials and lubricant gears, the efficiency
coefficient at rated load was not less than 0.85.
The pyrotechnic release mechanism was created in the
Leningrad research institute “Poisk”; the head of develop-
ment from VNII-100 was A. V. Mitskevich. Figure 16
shows the hollow output shaft. The entire testing of
dangerous mechanisms, including verification of activa-
tion efficiency during beehive-shape charge blow up,
occurred at the plant. Tests showed that all pieces of metal
were discharged from the drive internal volume because of
the hollow shaft, which did not prevent the rotation of the
wheel.
At VNII-100, only the detonator circuits were checked
using a standard procedure. However, the reliability of the
mechanism was verified as well. A shaft was perfectly cut
during night tests of the engine gearbox in a thermal
vacuum chamber when an operator failed to monitor it and
fell asleep. The developers at “Poisk” were satisfied; the
actual temperature in the chamber was higher than 200 °C,
which was identified as the limiting operating temperature
in their datasheet. The explosion had no other conse-
quences.
A system consisting of a radial labyrinth and a bellows
mechanical seal proved to be an efficient system. It
eliminated the penetration of dust and sand when tested at
natural landfills of the Kara-Kum desert and truly provided
a microclimate in the inner cavity of motor-in-wheels when
tested in vacuum chambers.
The choice of electric motor type by the electric motor
laboratory was influenced by the manner of board rotation.
To rotate in motion, the chassis needed at least two
different speeds of the wheels on opposite sides during
rotation.
Thus, Engineer I. I. Glushkov proposed to develop for
this purpose a special two-commutator motor with two
windings. In the series connection of windings, the motor-
provided motor shaft rotation rate was 1800(110%)
r/min, with rated torque of 20 N$cm; in parallel,
respectively, 4500(15%) r/min and 10 N$cm.
This decision was fully consistent with the general plan
to increase reliability by duplicating the most critical
components. In case of failure of one of the two windings
or one of the two commutators, the ability of the chassis to
maneuver would be reduced, but it would not lose its
mobility.
74 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86

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Fig. 16 Motor-in-wheel of Lunokhod-1 (drawing by V. V. Grinev) [1]

1 –Hoop; 2 –Net; 3 –Hub of wheel; 4 –Sensor of rotations; 5 –Bearings of the hub of the wheel; 6 –Balance of suspension; 7 –Labyrinth packing;
8 –Bearings of the balance; 9 –Reaction arm; 10 –Pressure-sealed connector; 11 –Electric motor; 13 –Brake; 14 –Epicycle; 15 –Three-lane planetary
reduction gear; 16 –Releasing mechanism; 17 –Hollow output shaft with plane of weakness; 18 –End seal
of

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Commercially available direct-current motors with
graphite commutators were incapable of providing the
required operating range; this fact was proven by the
developers during the initial thermal vacuum tests.
Commutator brushes wore out completely in just 40 min
of work in a vacuum. Therefore, the decision was made to
develop and manufacture a special two-speed motor with
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performed by the direct-current motor when it switched to
the generator mode of operation. The required braking
torque of the parking brake could have created friction
moments at rest in the commutator and reducer, normalized
to the wheel. However, the high quality of these
components excluded this possibility.
The first running trials revealed the following: Down-

independent excitation from permanent magnets according
to the technical brief of VNII-100 at the “Mashinoapparat”
Moscow Plant. The new design utilized the latest materials
and technologies that were known to experts of both
establishments and their subcontractors.
The D-126 motor has a long service life in a vacuum,
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ward movement of the model continued after the command
“stop” and activation of dynamic braking. A frictional disk
brake that normally closed with electromagnetic control in
the kinematic drive circuit was urgently needed. However,
“Mashinoapparat” refused to change the design of the
motor front panel D-126 because of a large production

sufficiently high efficiency coefficient, and stringent
mechanical characteristics, which all helped to avoid the
synchronization of engine speed even on difficult terrain.
During traction drive tests with a “dry” (without a plastic
lubricant) reducer, such as the theoretical expedition
Lunokhod-3, the engine worked 300 hours in a vacuum
and did not wear out.
of
reserve. This refusal caused many difficulties in calculating
and designing the magnetic core and coils of electro-
magnets, which were performed by D. Y. Klyatskin.
Designing electromagnets were necessary to provide
confident closure of the magnetic circuit and, therefore,
release of the frictional brake at the initial air gap of 0.4
mm and the action of a compression spring with a force of

Tests on the first experimental samples of traction drive,
as part of test mules, required changes in the concept of the
chassis, specifically in the brake subsystem. These changes
must be elaborated further because of their impact on the
first lunar day of Lunokhod-1 operation on the Moon.
Initially, the stop braking functions were assumed to be
approximately 20 N. Neither the diameter nor the axial size
of the specified electromagnets could be changed.
Given the lack of space, a sequential execution was
implemented. A magnetic circuit closing function that took
less than 0.1 s was executed, and the disc brake that was
movable in the axial direction was held with friction lining

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 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
in the closed state, the duration of which was determined
by the time of continuous movement. The duration could
be up to tens of minutes.
To execute the process, electromagnet coils with two
types of windings were used. The first type was forced
winding, with a current consumption of 2.00 A. The
second type was hold-in winding, with a current of 0.05 A.
Both windings were duplicated to improve reliability.
Thus, the total number of windings of the eight motor-
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in-wheels reached 32. BASh efficiently managed such an
abundance, maintaining only the condition that the
operation time of the electromagnet in the forced mode
should not exceed 0.5 s. In the hold-in mode, the heat
balance should be kept indefinitely.
As for the brake design, the choice of materials for
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rubbing pairs and the determination of their friction
characteristics in air and in a vacuum at high temperatures
considered the possible presence of plastic lubricants. In
the summer of 1967, finishing thermal vacuum tests were
conducted. This part of brake development was fulfilled by
M. I. Malenkov.
The cryogenic vacuum equipment of VNII-100 was
fp
installed and tested. Tests were conducted in Kharkov with
the equipment of the Physico-Technical Institute of Low
Temperature of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
Owing to the use of liquid nitrogen and helium vacuum,
one billionth of mercury was obtained. This vacuum was
sterile and free of oil vapors, such as that from diffusion
of
pump working fluid.
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Successful tests were conducted in a chamber for both
friction couple of the disc brake and traction motor D-126.
Tests of the motor were conducted under the leadership of
A. F. Solovyev. The other participants were S. V. Gurkalo,
L. O. Vaysfeld, and “Mashinoapparat” specialist A. Mamlin.
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4.5 Chassis automation control unit and set of sensors
The information control subsystem of the chassis was
implemented in the design of BASh (Fig. 17). Trim and list
indicator are shown at the top left of Fig. 17. The
telecommunications system, which was utilized to connect
the lunar rover to Earth, is not shown.
fp
BASh was originally developed in the laboratory of
information and measurements under the direction of L. H.
Kogan (general structure, information processing from
sensors and telemetry) with the participation of R. L.
Bykhovskaya and A. F. Solovyev (reception and execution
of locomotion commands). Afterward, the entire leader-
of
ship in the development of the chassis automation control
unit was assigned to A. F. Solovyev.
BASh aimed to achieve the following: Convert remote
control commands and issue commands to the actuators,
generate commands for the board subsystem of safety
operations, convert the signals from measuring sensors,
program the device for assessment of maneuverability, and
process measurement results to be transmitted to Earth [1].
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75
Fig. 17 Chassis automation control unit of Lunokhod-1 (cour-
tesy of VNIITransmash)
In accordance with the functions performed, BASh
consisted of the following groups: Movement manage-
ment, generation of commands for the board subsystem of
safety operations, measurement and control, and manage-
ment of PrOP (Fig. 18 [1]). Each group consisted of several
functional blocks. The movement management group
contained the blocks of movement, braking, and stopping.
The movement block consisted of a logical device whose
input receives locomotion commands in the form of
voltage pulses and the actuating commutator of the traction
motors. This block ensures the performance of the
following maneuvers: First speed, including forward and
backward (first speed), and second speed, including turn to
the left, turn to the right on a spot, and turn to the right
while in motion.
When launched, the braking block ensures the activation
of the electromagnet windings simultaneously with the
activation of the motors in accordance with the algorithm
described above, which activates forced and hold-in
windings. When the chassis is stopped, this block turns
off the power from electric motors, which switch to
dynamic braking mode; this block deactivates the electro-
magnets as well.
The stopping block is made on the electromagnetic
relay. This block sends a signal to the block of movement
to stop the chassis when the stop command is received
from Earth through the on-board locomotion safety
equipment.
The locomotion safety group ensures the generation of
commands for automatic stop of the chassis in accordance
with the concept discussed above. In this case, Earth
receives telemetry information required to analyze the
causes of emergency stop.
The automatic control circuit also includes blocks of
start and stop modes and the dosing rotation block, which
imposes several restrictions on possible emotional actions
of the driver. Restrictions can be released when a relevant
decision of the crew commander is made. The start-stop
mode block provides a dosage of continuous movement
time. The dosing rotation unit produces a stop signal when
a predetermined rotation angle of the chassis is reached.
Safety movement automation does not allow the
76 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
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Fig. 18 Simplified and macro flowchart of BASh in the remote control structure [1]
activation of the second speed from rest and movement
with released current protection. Thus, the system turns on
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spot and executes a reverse motion with a measuring wheel
lowered to the ground. As for increased emergency
slipping, the operators can assess the danger of this
phenomenon when deciphering the telemetry information
on travel and wheel rotation rate.
The control and measurement group consists of blocks
of
that measure wheel rotations, trim and list, currents, and
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traction motor temperatures.
The speed sensors of the third and sixth wheel rotation
measured the rotation rate; the sensors of the other wheels
provided information about rotation. All these sensors
were of an induction type according to their structure.
Temperature was measured in the motor stator housing.
DKD was an aviation gyroscope with three degrees of
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freedom and pendulum correction.
All information was transmitted to Earth by telemetric
channels and used to not only diagnose the condition and
control of chassis subsystem operation and lunar rover
drive tasks, but also for scientific purposes. Thus, the
information from DKD allowed the construction of a
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contour map along the route of movement.
Manufacturing and delivery of the flight model of BASh
in Lavochkin Plant as well as delivery of electromecha-
nical units and appliances became a notable testimony to
the growth of the technological culture of the enterprise
and the improvement of its infrastructure with modern
of
equipment. This was a significant achievement [6] of chief
engineers M. P. Atamanov and A. Y. Belyakov; production
supervisor K. B. Chernov; his deputy F. M. Nevelev; heads
of technological services V. P. Eremeev, E. B. Bumagin,
and G. V. Lobanov; heads of the workshops Y. M. Kroner
and V. F. Kompaneyets; and site supervisors E. N.
Kukushkin and V. A. Kozyrev.
Work devoted to the space topics attracted highly
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qualified electrical and radio engineers and workers of
various professions. Among them were B. P. Sharov, V. G.
Pogorely, A. L. Belyshev, L. M. Erenpreis, S. N. Lebedev,
S. Y. Kushnarenko, and M. A. Lobastov.
4.6 Cross-country ability assessment device (PrOP)
PrOP (Fig. 19), a part of the chassis, is one of the
locomotion safety subsystem components [2,4]. It is a
scientific tool for studying the mechanical properties of
lunar soil in situ.
The upper head accommodates electromechanical
actuators for independent vertical movement of the lower
head and the measuring wheel as well as the die movement
sensor. The lower head includes a mechanism to rotate the
die, sump force sensors, and torque sensors. Both heads are
installed with additional devices that provide the capability
of a program work: End position sensors and limiters of
axial and tangential loads.
The mechanism of lowering the measuring wheel
provides free vertical movement when driving over
bumps. The sensor of this mechanism detects the position
of the wheel toward the upper head.
The introduction of the die into the soil is conducted
either to a limit determined by its design or until a critical
introduction force. Thin die blades almost do not distort the
results of bearing capacity measurements, which involve
the ratio of implementation efforts to the cross-sectional
area of the cone at the interface. Afterward, the movement
of the lower head stops and the die rotation mechanism is
activated.
According to the design, rotation is conducted either
until the maximum possible angle of 90° is reached or until
the maximum possible torque on the die is measured. This
rotation reflects the internal friction and cohesion of soil
particles. The influence of cone friction in soil on these
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
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Fig. 19 Cross-country ability assessment device in transport
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position (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
1 –Upper head; 2 –Measuring wheel movement mechanism;
3 –Measuring (free rolling) wheel; 4 –Lower head; 5 –Cone and blade
die; 6 –Upper wheel movement mechanism
measurements is negligible because of stability that is not
dependent on the angle of the die rotation.
fp
Measurement of the mechanical properties of soil is
conducted with the measuring wheel lowered to the
ground; this allows the determination of the distance to
the ground level as well as the start and depth of die
penetration. For more accurate decoding of the measure-
ment results by laboratory calibration, temperature control
of
is performed; the motor devices supply voltage.
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The main technical characteristics of PrOP are as
follows: The maximum force of die introduction is 230
N, the die penetration depth is up to 100 mm, the torque on
the die is up to 5 N$m, the diameter of the die cone base is
50 mm, the cone height is 44 mm, blade diameter is 70
mm, and the period of one measurement cycle is 1 min.
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Manufacturing of PrOP, developed in the design bureau
of precision mechanics led by P. N. Brodsky, proved to be a
challenge for the pilot production of the tank institute.
Some parts and assemblies of the device were more
appropriate for a watch factory. The flagship of that period,
the Leningrad Optical Mechanics Association, was
involved in the manufacturing. However, the fitters-
fp
assemblers of the manufacturing site, namely, B. P.
Zarubin, V. P. Kryukovets, and N. M. Dmitriev, were the
original co-authors of the design. The modern supply of the
device would have been impossible without their partici-
pation.
According to preliminary estimates, grounds with a
of
bearing capacity of less than 5 kPa could be critical to lunar
rovers, the depth gauges of which could be up to 300 mm.
According to the measurement results of PrOP, such soils
were absent on the movement tracks of the Soviet lunar
rovers. This result is consistent with the overall results of
the operation of vehicles on the Moon; both lunar rovers
did not lose mobility because of the lack of cross-country
capability.
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77
The scientific side of the PrOP operation proved to be
efficient and has not lost its relevance up to the present
time. For example, analyzing the results of measurements
on different sections of Lunokhod-1 movement routes, V.
V. Gromov obtained an informative picture of the
inhomogeneous upper layer of lunar soil (Fig. 20 [4]).
Future builders of lunar bases will still cite these data.
Fig. 20 Dependence of the introduction efforts of the depth and
type of a surface cover [4]
p –Force/N; H –Immersion depth/cm; 1 –Stone destruction; 2 –Yield of
solid rocks; 3 –Soil with increased porosity; 4 –Homogeneous soil
layer; 5 –Layer of loose soil on a solid foundation; 6 –Homogeneoues
extremely loose soil
4.7 Calculation and theoretical justification of the self-
propelled chassis design
In late 1967 to early 1968, the personnel of the space
department completed delivery in Lavochkin Plant of the
first flight model (LO) with a self-propelled chassis. The
head representative of the client, E. A. Sekerzhitsky,
warned that he would not allow the delivery, even if the
results of tests and checks are more than positive, without a
calculation report and a theoretical analysis of compliance
with the requirements of the technical brief and justifica-
tion of all components of the chassis as a whole.
The calculation and theoretical sector of P. S. Sologub’s
general machine laboratory dealt with traction, dynamic
characteristics, and selection of a traction drive (A. F.
Kudryavtsev), fluctuations of a sprung portion and run
smoothness (F. P. Shpak), stability against overturning (E.
V. Avotin), thermal modes and thermal protection (O. V.
Minin, V. N. Plokhikh), as well as the study of terrain and
reliability calculations (I. S. Bolhovitinov). The results of
the calculations comprised the first volume of the report.
The second volume was devoted to the calculation and
theoretical justification of the chassis and its component
operation modes, selection of suspension, strength, and
other calculations of the supporting structure, suspension,
drive, and brake, as well as calculation confirmation of the
78 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
other technical brief requirements. The first volume
described a wheelbase, track, and unsprung and sprung
masses of the lunar rover; the second volume dealt with the
gear-tooth calculations and calculations of critical parts
and fasteners.
The report was called “Calculation and theoretical
justification of the ‘C’ device working capacity in lunar
operation conditions” and included the calculation and
explanatory note for the project with the number 67252-
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RPG-1. The head of the design bureau, heads of design,
and engineering teams and designers took part in its
preparation. The head of RTS, F. P. Shpak, was a brilliant
coordinator of this significant work, summing up the result
of three to four years of creative research for the entire
team. The following is an initial fragment of the annotation
to the report.
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This report presents the results of calculations for the
chassis and its components for compliance with the
requirements of their functioning and the requirements of
the Technical Specification given by S. A. Lavochkin Plant
dated of March 24, 1967, Technical Specification approval
protocol dated of July 21, 1961 and Technical Conditions
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for the chassis products E-8.
The abovementioned calculations were conducted
analytically both by sliding rules and by using first Soviet
computers. In cases where one or the other calculation
mode of the chassis operation was simulated on Earth, the
calculation results were compared with those of tests to
of
evaluate the accuracy of the calculation methods.
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The report was released in 1968 and approved by the
director, V. S. Starovoitov. He is better known as the father
of the human rights activist Galina Vasilyevna Starovoi-
tova who was assassinated in 1998.
4.8 Experimental verification of the chassis
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Relatively simple preliminary testing of individual
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of
Fig. 21 Self-propelled chassis of the rover on PSI stand (courtesy of VNIITransmash)
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mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic components
in air, under normal climatic conditions, in idle mode, and
under load were conducted in the areas where these units
were created. Direct developers prepared tools for testing,
wrote techniques, and frequently performed the tests.
However, special stands and laboratories were required for
complex testing of the complex assemblies and assemblies
for resistance to such influences as vibration, shock, and
transport congestion. Vacuum and temperature create a
weak gravitational field. Another KB of stand equipment
was created for the design of stand and test equipment.
One development (A. A. Golubtsov, I. E. Kiselev) was a
PSI stand for acceptance testing of the chassis on which,
under normal climatic conditions and the Earth’s gravity,
one could verify the performance of all teams to create all
situations on the road and obtain all the full-time telemetry
information (Fig. 21).
In 1965, the institute developed a laboratory that was
involved in organizing and manufacturing mechanical
testing units of motor-in-wheels and BASh. The first
laboratory chiefs R. D. Tetelbaum and G. S. Zhartovskiy
were essential to this process.
In the thermal vacuum laboratory, stands were con-
tinuously equipped. These stands were designed by V. V.
Grinev, S. V. Gurkalo, and V. O. Tokarev. Laboratory head
and leading experts V. M. Tarasov, L. O. Vaysfeld, V. G.
Sobolev, S. A. Shepel, and V. I. Egorov were convinced
and thereafter persuaded the representatives of the
customer that if the vacuum created in the chamber was
“pure”, it need not match the space on the degree of
discharge. In terms of influence on the processes of
friction, achieving 0.001 mm of mercury is sufficient.
Understanding of the laboratory staff’s problems and
ways to obtain a “pure” vacuum as well as collaboration
with leading experts in the field of Kharkov Physico-
Technical Institute of Low Temperature (G. N. Gamulya),
Moscow Institute of Engineering (Institut Mashinovede-
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
niya: IMASH, A. Silin, E. N. Duhovskoy, Yu. N. Drozdov),
Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (LPI, L. N. Rozanov),
significantly simplified the test procedure. A few new ideas
in terms of obtaining such a “pure” vacuum by applying
vacuum sorption traps with a short cycle of regeneration
were offered by the graduate of the Department “Auto-
matics” of LPI (A. Kuzenits) [31].
The abovementioned facility construction to test the
performance and life of all the many pairs of friction block
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motor-in-wheels in a vacuum (Fig. 22 [4]) was highly
successful. The entire installation and the test object and
loader were mounted on the flange chamber, easily
accessible for installation and inspection. The functions
of the loader were performed by the elements of the test
object, i.e., torsion bar suspension and traction drive
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wheels. In Fig. 22, we can see a half-wheel motor unit fixed
to the inner side of the flange using a simulator chamber
regular bracket. In the hub, the wheel is instead a disc,
which interacts with the same fixed flange abutment; this
disc is fixed eccentrically relative to the axis of rotation. A
PTFE lining is fixed on the interacting surface of a stop in a
form of an arc segment.
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of
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Fig. 22 Installation of the test object and loader on the inside part
of the TEC-250 chamber flange [4]
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The stationary torsion bar suspension presses the stop
disk, thereby loading the hub bearings and balance. The
bearings cup torsion is inserted into the simulator bracket.
During commands for locomotion to the wheel hub, torque
is further applied by friction force at the point of contact
with the disc loading plate. Because of the eccentricity, the
of
forces acting on the bearing suspension and the torque
acting on all gearing and motor drive vary sinusoidally.
VNII-100 staff V. N. Plohih and D. Ya. Klyatskin
completed the final stage of complex thermal vacuum tests
as part of the chassis of the thermal equivalent of the entire
spacecraft. The tests took place in the suburbs of Moscow,
where a large chamber allowed the simultaneous simula-
tion of all the factors of space in Earth’s gravity.
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79
In the laboratory of running trials, specialists searched
for simple unloading systems available not only for closed
underground channels but also for natural polygons. Tests
with a single wheel were conducted in the ground channel
set in a flying laboratory, with lunar gravity showing some
influence of this factor on the nature of the propulsion
interaction with soil. However, this effect was not
determinative.
From the standpoint of the theory of similarity, the
problem of simulating the gravitational field of the Moon
was considered by V. V. Gromov and V. N. Petriga [8].
They concluded that in practice, combining different types
of running simulation models using large-scale dynami-
cally and statically similar models is advisable. However,
large-scale models are, as a rule, only for checking
kinematics. For experimental testing of a self-propelled
chassis and its components, a real chassis and drives
should be utilized.
Consequently, the geometry of full-sized models needs
to be discussed. To comply with static scaling, the weight
of the ground test mule must roughly correspond to the
actual weight of the lunar rover on the Moon. In addition,
coordinates of the center of mass should exactly match
those of the test mule and the real lunar rover. Such models
with a small error, which should be directed toward
tightening the real mode, are able to solve the over-
whelming majority of tasks of running tests on any natural
ranges; thus, unloading is not required.
Minor dynamic processes occurring in automatic rovers,
such as acceleration, braking, and a shot in an insurmoun-
table obstacle, can be investigated in the laboratory on
dynamically similar test mules. Unloading in the labora-
tory and at short distances, which may well be arranged on
a flat surface, is not a huge problem. In addition, the
dynamic processes can be reliably explored in a mathe-
matical mode [5].
The resource way of the test mule of the lunar rover was
practiced on an unpaved annular channel closed polygon.
Some dynamic situations were simulated using a partially
dynamically similar test mule that imitated only a real
moment of inertia about the transverse axis of the rover
(Fig. 23 [3]).
To conduct the most important tests to determine the
maximum angle of lifting and towing, which were
coupling characteristics of the chassis as a function of
the coefficient of slipping wheels, the stand “variable bias”
was used and tested on a horizontal platform with
adjustable traction on the hook (Fig. 24) [8].
Real revolution began with the organization based on
economic agreements with the Institute of Volcanology.
Field trials were conducted in areas of recent volcanic
eruptions in Kamchatka near Kliuchi then in Kozirevsk
settlements. The diversity of landforms and mechanical
properties of the soil, even in a relatively small area near
the field point, opened unprecedented opportunities of full
running trials on a close analogue of lunar soil.
80 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86
nt
ri
Fig. 23 Fragment of the annular channel of soil with rail track for
truck maintenance and full-size partially dynamically similar test
mule of the lunar rover [3]
Here, in 1969 to 1971 during running trials in the area of
fp
Shiveluch and Tolbachik, the high-traction coupling
characteristics of the self-propelled chassis of the Soviet
lunar rover were confirmed (Fig. 25 [37]).
4.9 Testing of distance driving methods
of
The special remote control of moon rovers was one part of
nt
the multi-faceted objective to develop the self-propelled
chassis. Formation of the technical requirements for all
equipment involved in implementing the function of the
movement apparatus on the lunar surface was one of the
main tasks of the general machines laboratory. Its KB
included B. M. Lubenko, A. V. Mitskevich, L. N. Polyakov,
ri
and I. F. Kazhukalo.
This position was mainly shared by chief designer of
rovers G. N. Babakin and leading experts at Lavochkin
Plant. Thus, a group of soldiers selected for training to
drive the lunar rover on the Moon was sent to the institute
on the initiative of Lavochkin Plant. The purpose of their
visit was to familiarize themselves with the design and
fp
of
Fig. 24 Ways to simulate the center of gravity of such static full-size mock-ups: Additional mass 1 at the top of the mast, increasing the
height of the point of application of thrust on the hook [8]
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proposed methods of traffic control of the self-propelled
chassis.
On the part of VNII-100, the development of the driving
method and driver training was led by Yu. P. Kitlyash, who
became close with L. N. Polyakov [18]. Kitlyash painted a
console configuration of the driver and the overall layout
of the crew in the control room, which was then placed in
the Deep Space Communication Center (Tzentr Dalneyi
Kosmicheskoi Svyazi: TsDKS) near Simferopol , Crimea
(Fig. 26). With the light hand of Lev Nikolaevich, this
figure became the basis of the industrial production of the
panels (Fig. 27); the illustration is now stored in museums
in Khimki, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.
Then, a group of experts from the Institute led by P. S.
Sologub participated in the development of methods and
practical skills in the process of driving in a remote test site
near Simferopol [32]. This process was a preparation for
the main events for Luna-17 and Lunokhod-1: Landing
and beginning of movement on the lunar surface.
5 At the peak of the moon race
In July 1968, the institute delivered the first flight model of
the self-propelled chassis for the first lunar rover. The
months, weeks, and days prior to delivery were a hectic
period not only for the team of space studies, the pilot
production institute, and department chief technologist but
also for various scientific-technical departments and
support services of the institute.
Three shifts in key scientific and industrial units were
organized. Several particularly in-demand employees had
to work round the clock. Rollaway beds could be seen in
the working areas. The next time an intense situation
occurred in the Institute was in the summer of 1986 before
sending tracked and wheeled robotic systems to Chernobyl
for clearing and decontamination of the territory and roofs
of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. These complexes
could not play a decisive role in the elimination of the
consequences of the largest man-made disaster, but their
use reduced the number of people working in hazardous
areas by hundreds of thousands.
 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes 81

assembly of the lunar rover was completed, and the

necessary checks were conducted. Even now, photos of the
rover, which was introduced to the world in 1970,
continues to attract designers. Designer D. V. Sidorov, a
Polytechnical University graduate, developed models of
Lunokhod-1 based on the photos (Fig. 28) [38,39].
At VNII-100, work continued on the production of LO-
2, the second flight model. It would be needed soon.
February 19, 1969 marked the launch of the first lunar

nt
rover, which ended in an accident of rocket “Proton-K” in
the first minute of the flight. A. L. Kemurdjian and V. S.
Starovoitov were present at the launch site and saw how
the rocket was automatically blown-up after the launch
failure [18].
Fig. 25 Fragment of the full-length running tests with a statically The wreckage of the station and lunar rover were
similar layout on steep slopes in the area of the volcano Tolbachik
on Kamchatka [37]
ri gathered in the desert near the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The
motor blocks, i.e., the wheels and a block of automatic self-
propelled chassis rover, were found undamaged. The
pyrotechnic components of the release mechanism also
withstood the severe test. Mechanisms were dismantled,
and the preserved blocks were utilized in the construction
of navigation models for different purposes.
fp

After this incident, the leaders of the Soviet moon

program, in anticipation of the expected expedition of
Apollo 11, prioritized the delivery of lunar soil to Earth
[13,17]. Unified-platform automatic lunar stations (ALS)
were in the emergency order to accommodate the modified
soil sampling device (Grunto-Zabornoe Ustroistvo: GZU)
of

and return to the rocket to save the device.

nt
The soft landing of previous Soviet moon stations Luna-
9 and Luna-13 did not require the precise alignment of
devices on the descent trajectory and was protected by the
cushioning properties of quickly inflatable balloons. By
Fig. 26 Remote control drawing of L. N. Polyakov (courtesy of contrast, the new ALS was created based on a unified
VNIITransmash) landing platform equipped with a braking unit with a soft
ri

landing system. Instrumentation provides guidance in all

areas of the station flight control and management of the
parameters of the trajectory and speed of descent and
landing. Thus, the adaptation of the station under the new
payload was not an easy task.
The rate of work can be judged by the following fact. On
June 14, 1969, just four months after the accident at the
fp

Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launch of the first modified

ALS with return onboard the rocket was held. However,
the start was again unsuccessful. The fourth stage of the
rocket, which was to bring the head part to a geocentric
orbit, did not receive the appropriate commands to run
[17].
of

Meanwhile, the month before, in May 1969, the Apollo

Fig. 27 Driver V. G. Dovgan controlling remotely at TsDKC
(courtesy of V. G. Dovgan)
After the delivery of the chassis center of gravity, work
on the assembly and inspection of the rover was moved to
Khimki. With the participation of experts from VNII-100,
10 spacecraft successfully placed the flight orbiter Apollo
8 in lunar orbit.
In addition to the above achievements, in that same
month of May, all necessary maneuvers to rebuild
compartments for the autonomous flight of the lunar
module with two astronauts on board and subsequent
docking with the orbital unit for return to Earth were

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82 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86

nt
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Fig. 28 Lunokhod-1, 3D model. (a) Front view; (b) rear view (design by D. V. Sidorov)
1 –Radiator of a cold contour; 2 –Gain antenna (ONA); 3 –ONA drives; 4 –Corner reflector; 5 –Camera slow-scan TV; 6 –Device for determining the
chemical composition of the soil (RIFMA); 7 –Propelled chassis, starboard; 8 –Container; 9 –Gauge of the lunar vertical; 10 –Panoramic camera of
vertical scanning; 11 –Solar panel; 12 –Wide-beam antenna; 13 –A cover of the pressurized compartment; 14 –Lifting drive pressurized compartment
cover; 15 –Whip antenna (4 pieces); 16 –Radioisotope heater unit; 17 –Screen block heater; 18 –The ninth freely rolling (dimensional) wheel;
19 –Mechanical penetrometer (device for cross-country ability evaluation); 20 –A bearing pallet of the container; 21 –Self-propelled chassis, left side;
fp

22 –Panoramic camera of horizontal scanning

fulfilled in a selenocentric orbit. Experts from different
countries held their breath; it was clear that the next step
would be the landing of a man on the Moon and return of
its soil to Earth.
of
On the same day, July 21, ALS Luna-15 landed.
Automatic stations need much less time for taking soil
than astronauts do. After all, only a few grams of ethereal
substance are required in a flight back to Earth. The Apollo

By this time, the Soviet Union already realized that the
nt
Americans would be the first to land a man to the Moon.
Nevertheless, the first return of lunar soil could still be
achieved with the help of Soviet machines. Perhaps no
other event could highlight the intense moon race between
the USSR and the United States than the key events that
occurred at the launch sites of the Earth and the Moon in
ri
11 expedition planned to spend over 20 hours on the
Moon. Therefore, the hope that Luna-15 would be the first
to return lunar soil to Earth was still reasonable. However,
the landing of ALS Luna-15 occurred in emergency mode.
This emergency occurred after the station had already
begun to climb to orbit and, according to on-board
instrumentation, was located at an altitude of 2.5 km. At

July 1969.
At first, Baikonur was ahead. On July 13, 1969, the
second launch with the ALS modified landing platform
called Luna-15 was executed. In February 1969, the weight
of the station in geocentric orbit was 5700 kg; it was able to
secure the return of lunar soil to Earth. This launch was a
success; the station went on the first flight trajectory to the
fp
this altitude, the main engine switched off; the estimated
time needed for it to work was 267.3 s. However, at 237 s,
the signal suddenly disappeared although the parameters of
all systems were normal up to this point [13]. This
alignment led operators to assume a collision with a lunar
mountain station. This could occur if the error trajectory
measurements were up to 45 km in the direction of flight

Moon and then to lunar orbit.
Three days later, on July 16, 1969, the start of the
expedition of Apollo 11 was made from the John F.
Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. The American
spacecraft was flying to the Moon, and the Soviet craft was
already maneuvering in the orbit of its artificial satellite.
of
and 15 km away from the calculated orbital plane. After
realizing the accident of station Luna-15, intrigue
vanished. On July 24, 1969, the Americans finished
alone, bringing with them 24.9 kg of lunar soil to Earth.
Afterward, the Soviet Union had three other unsuccess-
ful attempts to deliver lunar soil with the help of three

Two corrections of the Luna-15 orbit parameters were
made [17]. We can assume that this was done to ensure
favorable conditions for soft landing on the Moon.
The delay in the landing of Luna-15 led to a change in
the development of events. On July 20, the lunar module
expedition Apollo 11 made the first successful landing on
the Moon. On July 21, the astronaut Neil Armstrong
became the first human to step on lunar soil.
identical stations. In all these cases, the accidents occurred
in the early stages of flight, no later than launching into
geocentric orbit. Only on September 12, 1970 did the start
of ALS Luna-16 lead to the successful and automatic
delivery of lunar soil to Earth. This was achieved after
Lavochkin Plant and related business teams analyzed and
addressed the causes of the previous accidents.
Two months later, on November 17, 1970 just after the

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 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
Luna-16 success, Luna-17 also made a soft landing near
Mare Imbrium at coordinates 34º47ʹ west longitude and
38º24ʹ north latitude. The USSR once again advanced in
the field of lunar robots [13,17].
6 First track on the Moon
At 9 h 27 min 7 s, the first command to move forward was
nt
sent from Earth [32]. Lunokhod-1 alighted the ramp and
was the first rover on the lunar surface (Fig. 29 [1]).
The reaction of the domestic and foreign public to this
event was unusually strong, benevolent, and sometimes
simply ecstatic. This reaction intensified when the space
robot survived the first moon night and continued research
ri
on the second lunar day. The long hard work of huge
collectives, including a relatively small group of employ-
ees of VNII-100, was globally recognized as a success.
To participate in the Operational Control of Lunokhod-
1, the staff of the institute were sent to Simferopol headed
by P. S. Sologub. A crew of five soldiers conducted direct
driving. Extensive information about the history and work
fp
of the crew is available in Ref. [32].
The following scientific instruments and equipment
were installed onboard Lunokhod-1 (Fig. 28): X-ray
spectrometer “RIFMA” to study the chemical composition
of the soil; angled laser reflector to support the lunar laser
ranging from ground-based radiation sources; four board
of
telephotometer vertical and horizontal scans (two per side);
nt
patency assessment instrument-mechanical penetrometer
to study the physical and mechanical properties of the soil;
radiometric equipment (dosimeter) to study cosmic rays of
low energy; and collimating X-ray telescope to study the
cosmic X-ray radiation. These devices are not shown in
Fig. 28.
ri
To study the topography and thermal state of the soil
along the route, the official data from the onboard slow-
scan television cameras and the sensors of trim and list as
fp
of
Fig. 29 Fragment of the panorama (horizontal scan) of the Moon near the landing station Luna-17 (bright spot on the horizon at the end
of the track) and the first tracks on the Moon [1]
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83
well as the set of lunar rover temperature sensors were used
for analysis.
Almost throughout the operation of Lunokhod-1 on the
Moon, the operation of the self-propelled chassis and
scientific instruments occurred as planned. However,
unexpected problems were still encountered. On the first
lunar day, during the 4 h session with the command “Turn
20”, the flight engineer reported an increase in current
consumption. The cause was identified quickly. It was the
breaking of electric circuit windings in all eight electro-
magnets, which made disabling the brakes while driving
impossible. BASh did not comply with the restrictions on
working hours under high current.
Despite this serious failure, the chassis retained its
mobility because the brake timing was minimal, and all
engines had a good reserve of power. When driving at a
low-speed current, the feed wheels could exceed the
nominal values only on slopes over 15°. However, at high-
speed current traction, the motors could exceed the limits
even on relatively flat ground. Therefore, this mode and
turns of Lunokhod-1 in movement were not used.
Lunokhod-1 moved and provided research for 11 lunar
days, keeping operation after each of the 10 lunar nights.
The record of its active existence on the Moon is still
unbeaten (Table 1).
On January 16, 1973, station Luna-21 landed on the
bottom of Lemonnier, an ancient crater 60 km in diameter
located on the edge of the Sea of Serenity at coordinates
26°03ʹ W and 30°22ʹ E. On the same day, Lunokhod-2
began its operations, equipped with an additional, third
chamber slow-scan television mounted on a special bracket
at a height of 1.5 m. This camera improved the survey area
for the crew. A magnetometer to study variations in the
weak magnetic field of the Moon on the route and an
astrophotometer to study the lunar sky luminosity were
additionally installed onboard Lunokhod-2.
The defect of the BASh scheme was eliminated, and
reliable operation of the electromagnet friction of brakes
84 Front. Mech. Eng. 2016, 11(1): 60–86

Table 1 Main design and performance characteristics

Design parameters and operating characteristics on the Moon Lunokhod-1 Lunokhod-2
Gross vehicle mass/kg 756 840
Mass of self-propelled chassis, including BASh and PrOP/kg 108 108
Track B/m 1.6 1.6
Wheelbase L/m 1.7 1.7
–1
Rated speed/(km$h ) 0.8 0.8 and 2.0
Turning radius at a spot/m 0.0 0.0

nt
Turning radius in motion/m – 2.7
Clearance/m 0.38 0.37
Angle of static stability/(° ): Trim 43° 43°
Angle of static stability/(° ): List 45° 45°
Wheel diameter/m 0.51 0.51
Wheel width/m
ri 0.20 0.20
Days 302 125
Path/km 10.5 39.1 (accoring to the latest data)
–1
Actual average speed on the route/(km$h ) 0.14 0.34
Maximum duration of continuous locomotion/s 1st speed: 50 1st speed: 437
fp

2nd speed: 200

Maximum climbing angle 22° – 27°* 22° – 27°*

*: In consideration of the possible inaccuracy of measurement.

was provided. Therefore, both the second speed and turns Author Pseudonym
in motion were used for Lunokhod-2.
of

Alexander Leonovich Kemurdjian A. K. Aleksandrov, A. K. Leonovich

nt
Pavel Stepanovich Sologub P. S. Semenov, P. S. Pavlov
7 Conclusions Felix Pavlovich Shpak F. P. Pavlov, F. P. Yakovlev
Anatoly Fedorovich Solovyov A. F. Grachev
The creation and successful operation of Lunokhod-1, Viktor Ivanovich Komissarov V. I. Komarov, V. P. Komarov
which provided a huge amount of scientific information
Georgy Nikolaevich Korepanov G. N. Shesternev
gathered throughout its movements, gave rise to a new
ri

direction in space technology. Mobile automatic and Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Mishki- V. K. Mishkin
remote-controlled lunar and Martian laboratories, also nyuk
known as planet rovers, became an integral part of new Anatoly Vladimirovich Mitskevich A. V. Rybakov
research programs for celestial bodies. The word “rover” Raisa Lazarevna Bykhovskaya R. L. Bykova
entered the international lexicon without translation, Mikhail Ivanovich Malenkov M. I. Bolshov, M. I. Isakov
similar to the word “sputnik”. The first lunar rover will
Mikhail Borisovich Schwarzburg M. B. Kolesov
be remembered as much as the first car, train, ship, and
fp

airplane. Peter Naumovich Brodsky P. N. Naumov

Yuri Petrovich Kitlyash Yu. P. Kotlov
Appendix Lev Nikolaevich Polyakov L. N. Polenov
Igor Sergeevich Bolkhovitinov B. I. Garin, I. S. Garin
Pseudonyms of authors in monographs [1–3]
Victor Georgievich Babenko V. B. Georgiev
Georgy Nikolaevich Babakin is specified in the mono-
of

graph The mobile laboratory on the Moon Lunokhod-1 Valery Nikolaevich Petriga V. K. Petrov, V. N. Petrov
under the pseudonym G. N. Nikolaev. Oleg Genrikhovich Victor Nikiforovitch Plohih V. N. Teplov
Ivanovsky is under the pseudonym O. G. Ivanov. Eugeny Viktorovich Avotin E. V. Avotinsh
Below, there is a transcript of aliases of authors from the Boris Vasilyevich Gladkikh B. V. Borodachev
staff of VNII-100 mentioned in this monograph as well as
Leonid Oskarovich Vaysfeld L. O. Vaysberg
in the monograph “Barsukov V. L.The mobile laboratory
on the Moon Lunokhod-1. Volume 2. Moscow: Science, Vladimir Pavlovich Velichko V. P. Velikanov
1978”: Mikhail Nikolaevich Piligin M. N. Vladimirov

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 Mikhail MALENKOV. Self-propelled automatic chassis of Lunokhod-1: History of creation in episodes
Vyacheslav Efimovich Papirny V. E. Papiryan
Israel Isidorovich Rosentsweig I. I. Rozov
Semyon Alekseevich Shepel S. A. Shvetsov
Anatoly Fedorovich Kudryavtsev A. F. Kuleshov
Oleg Vladimirovich Minin O. V. Volodin
Yuri Ivanovich Vasiliev Yu. I. Vasin
Lidija Timofeevna Cherepanova L. T. Panova
nt
Acknowledgements The author expresses his gratitude to all VNIItrans-
mash veterans of space studies who provided support throughout the years
when the author collected data and edited the story of the creation of the self-
propelled chassis of Lunokhod-1. The first article that the author devoted to
this subject was published in the newspaper “Izvestia” in 1990. The author
also remembers and recognizes the collaborators who are no longer with us,
including A. L. Kemurdjian and teammates in collaborative research V. V.
ri
Gromov, I. S. Bolkhovitinov, and F. P. Shpak.
This publication was made possible through the financial support of the
project of the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 14.576.21.0050, universal ID
RFMEF157614X0050).
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fp
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