Leonov Interviewed on Soviet Manned Lunar Program, Current Issues

This document is a 1990 JPRS report containing an interview with Major General Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov, a Soviet cosmonaut, regarding the history and failure of the Soviet manned lunar program. Leonov explains that the program was divided into two phases: a flight around the moon and a landing on the moon. He details the technical challenges faced, including the failure of the N-1 booster and the L-3 vehicle, and notes that the program was ultimately abandoned in 1968 after it became clear the Americans would reach the moon first. Leonov discusses the training of cosmonauts, the use of simulators, and the specific navigation challenges of a lunar mission. He also addresses the Apollo program, noting that the Soviet Union monitored American progress but suffered from internal mismanagement and a lack of economic mechanisms to support space innovation. Leonov explicitly dismisses UFO-related sensationalism regarding the moon landings, characterizing such claims as fantasies taken out of context from astronaut conversations. The document concludes with Leonov's assessment that no Soviet lunar program is envisaged before the year 2000.