42 engines
N-1 Moon rocket · 42 engines
The 42 rocket engines of the Soviet N-1 Moon rocket: 30 on the first stage, 8 on the second and 4 on the third, each one watched by the KORD engine-monitoring system. Four N-1s flew, in 1969, 1969, 1971 and 1972.
In the 1960s the Soviet Union built a giant rocket to send people to the Moon. It was called the N-1. Instead of a few huge engines, it used many smaller ones: 30 on the first stage, 8 on the second, 4 on the third. An engine specialist, Raykov, said it as 30 engines plus 8 plus 4 on the rocket, 42 in all. With so many engines, the team calculated that at least one would fail every two launches, so they built a watcher called KORD. Each of the 42 engines had its own monitoring equipment. If one engine looked sick, KORD switched it off. Four N-1 rockets flew between 1969 and 1972. None reached orbit.
What it supports
The 42 is printed by the source, not added up by us. In NASA's history of the Moon race by the engineer Boris Chertok (Rockets and People, Volume IV, NASA SP-2011-4110), the count appears on p. 120 ("the reliability for the N-1 with 42 engines"), p. 143 (Raykov: "30 engines plus 8 plus 4 on the rocket", 42 in all), and p. 146 ("Each of the 42 engines had its own monitoring equipment"). The series editor's introduction says KORD was designed to control and synchronize the operation of the 42 engines, and lists the four launches: two in 1969, one in 1971, and one in 1972. On the first flight, 21 February 1969, Chertok writes that KORD commands shut down 2 engines at liftoff and the other 28 in the 69th second (p. 206). The U. S. Centennial of Flight history gives the same 30, 8 and 4, and records that each of the four flights failed before orbit. A later plate about a Starship design also says 42 engines. That is a coincidence of engine counts to notice, not a link.
What it does not
Not proof that 42 engines doomed the rocket; each of the four flights failed for its own reasons, and the engineers argued about the blame. Not a number anyone chose for its own sake; 30, 8 and 4 came from thrust and stage design. Not the whole Moon stack; the lunar spacecraft on top had more engines of its own. Not a record we claim. Not connected to Starship. Not Adams.
ExactnessCount
Form42
Unitengines
Strengthhard
When1969-02-21
Hung18 October 2026