Царь-Ракета Н-1

"Tzar Rocket" - this is how the super-heavy launch vehicle N-1 was called for its colossal power and size (carrying capacity up to 100 tons, height more than 100 meters - twice as much as the legendary R-7). The Swan Song of S.P. Korolev, N-1 became the main stake of the USSR in the “moon race”, and in the future it was supposed to ensure the assembly of TMK (heavy interplanetary spacecraft) in orbit for manned flights to Mars and Venus. But like the Tzar Bell, which never rang, and the Tzar Cannon, which never took part in combat, the Tzar Rocket never went into space. All four test launches of the N-1 were unsuccessful, and after the untimely death of Korolev and the US landing on the moon, the expensive program to create the Soviet lunar base Zvezda was cancelled. Why did the USSR lose the "moon race"? Can the decision to stop work on the N-1 on the threshold of a new breakthrough in Soviet cosmonautics be considered justified? Is it true that if Korolev was alive with his titan will and gigantic authority, the Tzar Rocket would have been brought to perfection and the Soviet Union would have mastered not only the Moon, but also Mars? A new book by a leading space historian answers all these questions. The collector's edition is illustrated with exclusive drawings and photographs.