The LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complex was a lunar expedition and moonbase

Colonization of the Moon

The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon. Advocates of space exploration have seen settlement of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy...

 proposed by Valentin Glushko

Valentin Glushko

Valentin Petrovich Glushko or Valentyn Petrovych Hlushko was a Soviet engineer, and the principal Soviet designer of rocket engines during the Soviet/American Space Race.-Biography:...

 in 1974 as a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 response to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' Apollo program and as successor of Zvezda moonbase

Zvezda (moonbase)

Zvezda moonbase , also DLB Lunar Base — plan and project of 1962—1974 of Soviet manned moonbase as successor N1-L3 manned lunar expedition program. It was the first detailed such project more developed than early US Horizon and Lunex projects and later Apollo Lunar Base Wernher von Braun and NASA...

 that based on closed N1-L3 manned moon expedition program. If implemented, it was intended to have been operational by 1980 and used for scientific and engineering research.

Hardware

The Vulkan-LEK project based on new superheavy launcher developed in Glushko's bureau.

The moonbase design consisted of a number of modules, including:

• Lunokhod, an 8-ton
  Ton
  The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
  
   pressurized rover to be used to build the base and for expeditions.
• The LZM ("Laboratory-Factory Module"), a 16-ton pressurized module to be used for oxygen
  Oxygen
  Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
  
   production and scientific experiments.
• The LZhM ("Laboratory-Habitation Module"), 22-ton habitation module where cosmonauts were to reside.
• A nuclear power station to provide electricity.
• A simple transport vehicle to ferry supplies to and from a lunar orbit
  Lunar orbit
  In astronomy, lunar orbit refers to the orbit of an object around the Moon.As used in the space program, this refers not to the orbit of the Moon about the Earth, but to orbits by various manned or unmanned spacecraft around the Moon...
  
  .

Project termination

The project was cancelled in 1976 when an Academy of Sciences

Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

Commission ruled that resources should be targeted toward projects primarily adding economic value rather than for national prestige.

External links

• the LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complex at astronautix.com.
• Entry at russianspaceweb.com.