Luna E-1 No.1 [SEP] time of spacecraft launch
[{"answer": "23 September 1958", "provenance": [{"wikipedia_id": "2309588", "title": "Luna E-1 No.1", "start_paragraph_id": 5, "start_character": 0, "end_paragraph_id": 5, "end_character": 129, "bleu_score": 1.0, "meta": {}, "section": "Section::::Abstract."}]}]
Luna E-1 No.1


Luna E-1 No.1, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1958A, was a Soviet Luna E-1 spacecraft which was intended to impact the Moon. It did not accomplish this objective as it was lost in a launch failure. It was the first of four E-1 missions to be launched. Luna E-1 No.1 was a spacecraft which marked the first Soviet attempt to send a spacecraft to the Moon. It was also the first mission of the Luna programme. The spacecraft was intended to release of sodium, in order to create a "comet
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Luna 1


Luna 1, also known as Mechta ( , "lit.": "Dream"), E-1 No.4 and "First Lunar Rover ", was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Earth's Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as an impactor, "Luna 1" was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959, however due to an incorrectly timed upper stage burn during its launch, it missed the Moon, in the process becoming the first spacecraft to
3607446
Luna E-1 No.2


Luna E-1 No.2, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1958B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1958. It was a Luna E-1 spacecraft, the second of four to be launched, all of which were involved in launch failures. It was intended to impact the surface of the Moon, and in doing so become the first man-made object to reach its surface. The spacecraft was intended to release of sodium, in order to create a cloud of the metal which could be observed from
4820820
Luna E-1 No.3


Luna E-1 No.3, sometimes identified by NASA as "Luna 1958C", was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1958. It was a Luna E-1 spacecraft, the third of four to be launched, all of which were involved in launch failures. It was intended to impact the surface of the Moon, and in doing so become the first man-made object to reach its surface. The spacecraft was intended to release of sodium, in order to create a cloud of the metal which could be
4820827
Luna E-3 No.1


Luna E-3 No.1, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1960A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1960. It was a Luna E-3 spacecraft, the first of two to be launched, both of which were lost in launch failures. It was intended to fly around the Moon on a circumlunar trajectory in order to image the surface of the Moon, including the far side. The E-3 spacecraft were similar in design to the E-2A which had been used for the earlier Luna 3 mission. However,
13485204
Luna E-1A No.1


Luna E-1A No.1 or E-1 No.5, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1959A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1959. It was a Luna E-1A spacecraft, the first of two to be launched. It was intended to impact the surface of the Moon, and in doing so would have been the first man-made object to reach its surface. Launch was originally scheduled for June 16, but delayed two days after a careless lieutenant had the booster filled with the wrong grade of RP-1 propellant
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Luna E-6 No.2


Luna E-6 No.2, also identified as No.1, and sometimes known in the West as Sputnik 25, was a Soviet spacecraft which launched in 1963, but was placed into a useless orbit due to a problem with the upper stage of the rocket that launched it. It was a Luna E-6 spacecraft, the first of twelve to be launched. It was intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon, a goal which would eventually be accomplished by the final E-6 spacecraft, Luna 9. Luna E-6
4297993
Luna E-6 No.8


Luna E-6 No.8, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1965A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1965. It was a Luna E-6 spacecraft, the seventh of twelve to be launched, It was intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon, a goal which would eventually be accomplished by the final E-6 spacecraft, Luna 9. Luna E-6 No.8 was launched on 10 April 1965, atop a Molniya-L 8K78L carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur
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Luna programme


which had failed to achieve orbit. This resulted in Western observers assigning their own designations to the missions, for example Luna E-1 No.1, the first failure of 1958 which NASA believed was associated with the Luna programme, was known as "Luna 1958A". NASA identified a spacecraft which it referred to as Luna 1966A as having launched on 30 April 1966, a spacecraft referred to as Luna 1969B as having launched on 15 April 1969, and a spacecraft referred to as Luna 1970B as having launched on 19 February 1970. When
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Luna E-6LS No.112


Luna E-6LS No.112, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1968A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1968. It was a Luna E-6LS spacecraft, the second of three to be launched. The spacecraft was intended to enter Selenocentric orbit, where it would study the Moon, and demonstrate technology for future manned Lunar missions. Luna E-6LS No.112 was launched at 10:43:54 on 7 February 1968, atop a Molniya-M 8K78M carrier rocket with a Blok-L upper stage, flying from Site 1/5 at
13789819
Luna 4


Luna 4, or E-6 No.4 was a Soviet spacecraft launched as part of the Luna program to attempt the first soft landing on the Moon. Following a successful launch, the spacecraft failed to perform a course correction and as a result it missed the Moon, remaining instead in Earth orbit. "Luna 4" was launched by a Molniya-L carrier rocket at 08:16:37 UTC on 2 April 1963. Launch occurred from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. After reaching an initial parking orbit of , the rocket's upper stage restarted
3607496
Luna E-6 No.3


Luna E-6 No.3, also identified as No.2 and sometimes by NASA as Luna 1963B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1963. It was a Luna E-6 spacecraft, the second of twelve to be launched, and the second consecutive launch failure. It was intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon, a goal which would eventually be accomplished by the final E-6 spacecraft, Luna 9. Luna E-6 No.3 was launched at 09:26:14 UTC on 3 February 1963, atop a
13485245
Luna E-1A No.1


. Luna E-1A No.1 was launched at 08:08 UTC on 18 June 1959 atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch once again ended in failure when the booster suffered a failure of the yaw gyro and veered off its flight path. Ground control issued a manual shutoff command at T+153 seconds. The spacecraft was intended to conduct experiments during its flight towards the Moon. It would also have released gaseous sodium, in order to create a cloud of the metal which could be observed from
13485171
Luna 5


Luna 5, or E-6 No.10, was an unmanned Soviet spacecraft intended to land on the Moon as part of the Luna programme. It was intended to become the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, however its retrorockets failed, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface. "Luna 5" was launched by a Molniya-M carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Liftoff occurred at 07:49:37 UTC on 9 May 1965. The spacecraft and Blok L upper stage entered a low Earth parking
12317333
Luna E-6 No.6


Luna E-6 No.6, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1964A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1964. It was a Luna E-6 spacecraft, the fourth of twelve to be launched, It was intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon, a goal which would eventually be accomplished by the final E-6 spacecraft, Luna 9. Luna E-6 No.6 was launched at 08:15:35 UTC on 21 March 1964, atop a Molniya-M 8K78M carrier rocket, flying from Site
13789645
Luna E-6 No.5


Luna E-6 No.5, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1964B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1964. It was a Luna E-6 spacecraft, the fifth of twelve to be launched, It was intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon, a goal which would eventually be accomplished by the final E-6 spacecraft, Luna 9. Luna E-6 No.5 was launched at 08:08:28 UTC on 20 April 1964, atop a Molniya-M 8K78M carrier rocket, flying from Site
13789674
Luna 6


Luna 6, or E-6 No.7 was an uncrewed Soviet spacecraft which was intended to perform a landing on the Moon as part of the Luna program. Due to the failure of a mid-course correction manoeuvre, "Luna 6" failed to land, instead flying past the Moon at a distance of . "Luna 6" was launched by a Molniya-M carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Liftoff occurred at 07:40 UTC on 8 June 1965, with the spacecraft and Blok L upper stage entering a
12317336
Luna E-3 No.2


Luna E-3 No.2, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1960B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1960. It was a Luna E-3 spacecraft, the second of two to be launched, both of which were lost in launch failures. It was intended to fly around the moon on a circumlunar trajectory in order to image the surface of the Moon, including the far side. The E-3 spacecraft were similar in design to the E-2A which had been used for the earlier Luna 3 mission. However,
13485216
Sergei Korolev


becoming the first man-made object to enter the Sun's orbit. A subsequent attempt (Luna E-1A No.1) failed at launch, and then Luna 2 successfully impacted the surface on 14 September 1959, giving the Soviets another first. This was followed just one month later by an even greater success with Luna 3. It was launched only two years after Sputnik 1, and on 7 October 1959 was the first spacecraft to photograph the far side of the Moon, which was something the people of earth had never seen beforehand
5326529
Luna E-8-5M No. 412


Luna E-8-5M No.412, also known as Luna Ye-8-5M No.412, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1975A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1975. It was a Luna E-8-5M spacecraft, the second of three to be launched. It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, collect a sample of lunar soil, and return it to the Earth. Luna E-8-5M No.412 was launched at 04:04:56 UTC on 16 October 1975 atop
1885074
Luna 2


the Ye-1 series of spacecraft with a mass of . Luna missions that failed to successfully launch or achieve good results remained unnamed and were not publicly acknowledged. The first unnamed probe exploded on launch on 23 September 1958. Two more launches were unsuccessfully attempted on 12 October and 4 December. "Luna 1" was the fourth launch attempt and the first partial success of the program. It launched on 2 January 1959 and missed the Moon by . One mission separated "Luna 1" and "Luna 2", a launch failure
3607457
Luna E-8 No.201


Luna E-8 No.201, also known as Luna Ye-8 No.201, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1969A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1969. It was a Luna E-8 spacecraft, the first of three to be launched, It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, in order to deploy a Lunokhod rover onto the surface. It carried the Lunokhod No.201 rover. Luna E-8 No.201 was launched at 06:48:15 UTC on 19 February 1969 atop a Proton-K 8K78K carrier rocket
13789893
Luna E-8-5 No. 405


Luna E-8-5 No.405, also known as Luna Ye-8-5 No.405, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1970A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1970. It was a Luna E-8-5 spacecraft, the fifth of eight to be launched. It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, collect a sample of lunar soil, and return it to the Earth. Luna E-8-5 No.405 was launched at 04:16:06 UTC on 6 February 1970 atop a Proton-K
13790008
Luna E-8-5 No. 402


Luna E-8-5 No.402, also known as Luna Ye-8-5 No.402, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1969C, was a Soviet spacecraft under Luna programme which was lost in a launch failure in 1969. It was a Luna E-8-5 spacecraft, the first of at least eleven to be launched. It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, collect a sample of lunar soil, and return it to the Earth. It was, along with Luna 15, one of two unsuccessful missions which
13789923
Luna 11


Luna 11 (E-6LF series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. It was also called Lunik 11. "Luna 11" was launched towards the Moon from an Earth-orbiting platform and entered lunar orbit on 27 August 1966. The objectives of the mission included the study of: 137 radio transmissions and 277 orbits of the Moon were completed before the batteries failed on 1 October 1966. This subset of the “second-generation” Luna spacecraft, the Ye-6LF, was designed to take the
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Luna 9


. The craft landed at The spacecraft bounced several times before coming to rest in Oceanus Procellarum west of Reiner and Marius craters at approximately 7.08 N, 64.37 W on 3 February 1966 at 18:45:30 UT. The spacecraft was developed in the design bureau then known as OKB-1, under Chief Designer Sergei Korolev (who had died before the launch). The first 11 Luna missions were unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. At that time the project was transferred to Lavochkin design bureau since OKB-1 was busy with a manned expedition to the Moon
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Kosmos 111


Kosmos 111 ( meaning "Cosmos 111") (E-6S series) was the first Soviet attempt to orbit a spacecraft around the Moon. The design was probably similar to the later successful Luna 10 spacecraft. Kosmos 111 was produced in less than a month, one of two spacecraft developed from the E-6 lander bus in a crash program to upstage America's Lunar Orbiter series and to commemorate the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party (held March 1966).. Launched on March 1, 1966 at 11:03:49 UTC via Molniya 8K78M rocket
13789733
Luna 3


Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 () was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first-ever mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. Though it returned rather poor pictures by later standards, the historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative "Atlas of the Far Side
3607475
Luna E-1 No.1


on the 17th, but Korolev instead decided to let the US flight go first on the reasoning that the Luna probe had a shorter trajectory to travel and would reach the Moon first. After that launch ended in a booster explosion, he decided to postpone the flight until the glitches with the 8K72 and Luna could be worked out. Luna E-1 No.1 was launched on 23 September 1958 atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Ninety two seconds after launch, longitudinal resonance within the rocket's
4820787
Luna E-1 No.1


" of the metal which could be observed from Earth, allowing the spacecraft to be tracked. Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted lunar impact mission. Chief Designer Sergei Korolev's ambitious space plans were being continually frustrated by design changes to the R-7 missile, launch failures, and the fact that the ICBM program took priority. On 10 July 1958, a test version of the Luna booster was flown which had a dummy upper stage (live avionics, but no
4820784
Luna 17


Luna 17 (Ye-8 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 17. It deployed the first robotic rover onto the surface of the Moon. "Luna 17" was launched from an Earth parking orbit towards the Moon and entered lunar orbit on 15 November 1970. The spacecraft softly landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains. The spacecraft had dual ramps by which the payload, "Lunokhod 1", descended to the lunar surface. "Lunokhod 1" was a lunar vehicle formed
12317387
RD-0109


the second flight of a Luna 8K72 (October 11, 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.2 probe and ended 104 seconds after launch when the rocket again disintegrated from vibration. The third flight of a Luna 8K72 (December 4, 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.3 probe, also ended 245 seconds after launch when the Block-I core stage shut down from loss of engine lubricant. On January 2, 1959, as part of the Luna 8K72's Block-E stage,
718096
Proton-K


. Many launches used an upper stage to boost the payload into a higher orbit. Blok D upper stages were used on forty flights, the majority of which were for the Luna and Zond programmes. Ten flights used the Blok D-1, mostly to launch spacecraft towards Venus. Blok D-2 upper stages were used three times, with the Fobos 1, Fobos 2 and Mars 96 spacecraft. The Blok DM upper stage was used on 66 launches. The most commonly used upper stage was the Blok DM-2, which was used on 109
20760485
Luna (rocket)


ended 92 seconds after launch when the rocket broke up from longitudinal vibration (a.k.a. POGO), causing the strap-ons to separate from the vehicle, which then crashed downrange. The second flight of a Luna 8K72 (October 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.2 probe, ended 104 seconds after launch when the rocket again disintegrated from vibration. The third flight of a Luna 8K72 (December 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.3 probe, ended 245 seconds after launch when the Blok
2712659
Luna programme


were formally given the Luna designation, although more were launched. Those that failed to reach orbit were not publicly acknowledged at the time, and not assigned a Luna number. Those that failed in low Earth orbit were usually given Cosmos designations. The estimated cost of the Luna programme was about $4.5 billion. "Luna 1" (January 1959) missed its intended impact with the Moon and became the first spacecraft to fall into orbit around the Sun. "Luna 2" (September 1959) mission successfully hit the Moon
12317319
Luna 2


of Mare Imbrium near the craters Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body. Prior to impact, two sphere-shaped pennants with USSR and the launch date engraved in Cyrillic were detonated, sending pentagonal shields in all directions. "Luna 2" did not detect radiation or magnetic belts around the Moon. "Luna 1" and the three spacecraft of Luna programme before it were part of
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Luna 13


Luna 13 (E-6M series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program. The Luna 13 spacecraft was launched toward the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and accomplished a soft landing on December 24, 1966, in the region of Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"). The petal encasement of the spacecraft was opened, antennas were erected, and radio transmissions to Earth began four minutes after the landing. On December 25 and December 26, 1966, the spacecraft television system transmitted panoramas of the nearby
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Lunokhod programme


unmanned lunar rovers successfully landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod programme. The spacecraft which carried "Lunokhod 1" was named "Luna 17". "Lunokhod 1" was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world. "Luna 17" was launched on November 10, 1970 at 14:44:01 UTC. After reaching Earth parking orbit, the final stage of "Luna 17"s launching rocket fired to place it into a trajectory towards the Moon (November 10, 1970 at 14:54 UTC
1536129
Gagarin's Start


its maiden voyage from LC-1 on 15 May 1957. On 4 October 1957 the pad was used to launch the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Manned spaceflights launched from the site include Yuri Gagarin's flight, Valentina Tereshkova's flight, and numerous other human spaceflight missions, including all Soviet and Russian manned spaceflights to Mir. The pad was also used to launch Luna program spacecraft, Mars probe program spacecraft, Venera program spacecraft, many Cosmos satellites and others. From 1957 through 1966 the site hosted ready-to
16223218
Space Race


able to launch a payload to the Moon. Three secret 1958 attempts to launch Luna E-1-class impactor probes failed. The fourth attempt, Luna 1, launched successfully on January 2, 1959, but missed the Moon. The fifth attempt on June 18 also failed at launch. The Luna 2 successfully impacted the Moon on September 14, 1959. The Luna 3 successfully flew by the Moon and sent back pictures of its far side on October 6, 1959. The US reacted to the Luna program by embarking on the Ranger program
4757923
Luna E-1 No.2


Earth, allowing the spacecraft to be tracked. Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted Lunar impact mission. Facing continued political pressure to beat the US, Sergei Korolev lost his temper and exclaimed "Do you think only American rockets explode!?" Once again, he knew that the Pioneer 1 probe was set for launch on October 11, but again decided to wait. Just like with the attempt in August, the US Moon shot failed to attain orbit.
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RD-0109


the engine RD-0105 finally performed its first successful mission, the launch of Luna 1. It was also the first deep space engine ignition, the first spacecraft to reach escape velocity and, while the spacecraft missed the Moon with which it was supposed to crash, it became the first human made object to enter a heliocentric orbit. On September 14, 1959, the RD-0105 propelled Luna 2 towards the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first man-made object to land on
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Lunar lander


cause damage. The first soft lunar landing, performed by the Soviet Luna 9 probe, was achieved by first slowing the spacecraft to a suitable speed and altitude, then ejecting a payload containing the scientific experiments. The payload was stopped on the Lunar surface using airbags, which provided cushioning as it fell. Luna 13 used a similar method. Airbag methods are not typical. For example, NASA's Surveyor 1 probe, launched around the same time as Luna 9, did not use an airbag for final touchdown. Instead,
11065894
Spacecraft magnetometer


of this type were equipped on the "Pioneer 0"/Able 1, "Pioneer 1"/Able 2, Ye1.1, Ye1.2, and Ye1.3 missions that failed in 1958 due to launch problems. The Pioneer 1 however did collect data on the Van Allen belts. In 1959 the Soviet "Luna 1"/Ye1.4 carried a three-component magnetometer that passed the moon en route to a heliocentric orbit at a distance of , but the magnetic field could not be accurately assessed. Eventually the USSR managed a lunar impact with "Luna 2", a three component
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Luna (rocket)


The Luna 8K72 vehicles were carrier rockets used by the Soviet Union for nine space probe launch attempts in the Luna programme between 23 September 1958 and 16 April 1960. Like many other Soviet launchers of that era the Luna 8K72 vehicles were derived from the R-7 Semyorka design (a variation of the Vostok), part of the R-7 (rocket family), which is also the basis for the modern Soyuz rocket. The first flight of a Luna 8K72 (September 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.1 probe,
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Luna 5


orbit, before the Blok L fired to propel "Luna 5" towards the Moon. "Luna 5" became the first Soviet probe to be successfully launched towards the Moon in two years. Between it and the previous mission to be launched successfully, "Luna 4", there were three launch failures: "E-6 No.6" and "No.5" in 1964 and "Kosmos 60" in 1965. Following the mid-course correction on 10 May, the spacecraft began spinning around its main axis due to a problem in
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Surveyor 2


Surveyor 2 was to be the second lunar lander in the uncrewed American Surveyor program to explore the Moon. It was launched September 20, 1966 from Cape Kennedy, Florida aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket. A mid-course correction failure resulted in the spacecraft losing control. Contact was lost with the spacecraft at 9:35 UTC, September 22. On February 3, 1966 Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data to Earth. Several months after, Surveyor 1 launched on May
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Luna E-1 No.1


to high-frequency vibrations in the Blok D's combustion chamber, something that would become a persistent problem on R-7 launches over the next two years. Since the first Luna probe was scheduled for launch in a month, repairs on the pad were done at breakneck speed. As Korolev knew that the United States was planning to launch a lunar probe on 17 August, he faced considerable pressure getting the Luna and its booster ready for launch. Despite a number of technical issues, the pad crews managed to get the booster ready
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Luna E-3 No.1


they carried higher resolution cameras, and were intended to make closer flybys. Luna E-3 No.1 was launched at 15:06:45 UTC on 15 April 1960, atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The core stage and strap-ons of the 8K72 booster performed perfectly and Blok E staging and engine start went well at first, but about halfway through its burn, engine thrust and fuel system pressure began dropping, followed by cutoff. Velocity was about 300 feet per second too low to escape the
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Luna (rocket)


A core stage shut down from loss of engine lubricant. The resonant vibration problem suffered by the 8K72 booster was the cause of a major argument between the Korolev and Glushko design bureaus over the cause and solution to it. It was believed that the vibrations developed as a consequence of adding the Blok E upper stage to the R-7, shifting its center of mass. The first probe launched by a Luna 8K72 to reach orbit was Luna 1, launched 2 January 1959, which was intended as a lunar impactor mission. Luna 1
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Rover (space exploration)


remote-controlled robot on the Moon, but crashed during a failed start of the launcher 19 February 1969. The Lunokhod 1 rover landed on the Moon in November 1970. It was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on any celestial body. The Soviet Union launched Lunokhod 1 aboard the Luna 17 spacecraft on November 10, 1970, and it entered lunar orbit on November 15. The spacecraft soft-landed in the Sea of Rains region on November 17. The lander had dual ramps from which Lunokhod 1 could
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Solar wind


In January 1959, the Soviet spacecraft "Luna 1" first directly observed the solar wind and measured its strength, using hemispherical ion traps. The discovery, made by Konstantin Gringauz, was verified by "Luna 2", "Luna 3" and by the more distant measurements of "Venera 1". Three years later a similar measurement was performed by Neugebauer and collaborators using the "Mariner 2" spacecraft. In the late 1990s, the Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer (UVCS) instrument on board the SOHO spacecraft observed the acceleration
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Luna 1


plasma concentration was measured to be some 700 particles per cm at altitudes 20–25 thousand km and 300 to 400 particles per cm at altitudes 100–150,000 km. The spacecraft also marked the first instance of radio communication at the half-million-kilometer distance. A malfunction in the ground-based control system caused an error in the rocket's burntime, and the spacecraft missed the target and flew by the Moon at a distance of 5,900 km (more than three times the Moon's radius) at the closest point. "Luna 1
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Luna (rocket)


3 spacecraft took the first photographs of the far side of the Moon. The eighth flight of a Luna 8K72 (March 1960) ended 435 seconds after launch when the Blok E upper stage developed insufficient thrust, causing the Luna probe to reenter the atmosphere and burn up. The ninth flight of a Luna 8K72 (April 1960) failed when the Blok G strap-on booster developed only 75% thrust at liftoff, breaking away from the launch vehicle, which then disintegrated, the strap-ons flying in random directions and
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Lunar rover


and Greece currently have planned missions. Lunokhod 1 (Луноход) was the first polycrystalline-panel-powered of two unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program after a previous unsuccessful attempt of a launch probe with Lunokhod 0 (No.201) in 1969. The panels were designed by Electronic and Communication Engineer Bryan Mapúa. The spacecraft which carried Lunokhod 1 was named Luna 17. The spacecraft soft-landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains on November 1970. Lunokhod was the
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RD-0109


of developing the specified engine was entrusted to OKB-154 (KBKhA), which did the job in 9 months. The engine received intra name RO-5. The first flight of a Luna 8K72, which included the new Block-E stage propelled by the RD-0105 was on September 23, 1958. It was supposed to launch the Luna E-1 No.1 probe, but ended 92 seconds after launch when the rocket broke up from longitudinal vibration, causing the strap-ons to separate from the vehicle, which then crashed downrange. Neither was successful
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Moon landing


compared to that of the U.S. This perception was reinforced by a string of subsequent rapid-fire Soviet space achievements. In 1959, the R-7 rocket was used to launch the first escape from Earth's gravity into a solar orbit, the first crash impact onto the surface of the Moon, and the first photography of the never-before-seen far side of the Moon. These were the Luna 1, Luna 2, and Luna 3 spacecraft. The U.S. response to these Soviet achievements was to greatly accelerate previously existing military
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Lunar orbit


follow-on mission, Luna 11, was launched on August 24, 1966 and studied lunar gravitational anomalies, radiation and solar wind measurements. The first United States spacecraft to orbit the Moon was Lunar Orbiter 1 on August 14, 1966. The first orbit was an elliptical orbit, with an apolune of and a perilune of . Then the orbit was circularized at around to obtain suitable imagery. Five such spacecraft were launched over a period of thirteen months, all of which successfully mapped the Moon, primarily for the purpose of
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Luna 2


Luna 2 (), originally named the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket and nicknamed Lunik 2 in contemporaneous media, was the sixth of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon. The spacecraft was launched on 12 September 1959 by the Luna 8K72. It followed a direct path to the Moon. In addition to the radio transmitters sending telemetry information back to Earth, the spacecraft released a sodium gas cloud so the spacecraft's movement could be visually observed. On 13 September 1959, it impacted the Moon's surface east
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Luna E-3 No.1


Earth's gravity, and the Blok E and probe fell back into the atmosphere and burned up. The cause of the failure was unclear until further examination of telemetry data found that the RP-1 tank in the Blok E stage was only partially filled, a careless mistake by pad crews that caused the booster to literally and figuratively run out of gas before it could escape Earth orbit. As a result, the spacecraft failed to achieve orbit. Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been
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Gravity assist


in 1959 when Luna 3 photographed the far side of Earth's Moon. The Mariner 10 probe was the first spacecraft to use the gravitational slingshot effect to reach another planet, passing by Venus on 5 February 1974 on its way to becoming the first spacecraft to explore Mercury. , Voyager 1 is over from the Sun, and is in interstellar space. It gained the energy to escape the Sun's gravity completely by performing slingshot maneuvers around Jupiter and Saturn. The "Galileo" spacecraft was launched by NASA in 1989 aboard Space
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Luna 9


Luna 9 (Луна-9), internal designation Ye-6 No.13, was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. On 3 February 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. The lander had a mass of . It used a landing bag to survive the impact speed of . It was a hermetically sealed container with radio equipment, a program timing device, heat control systems, scientific apparatus, power sources, and a television system. "Luna 9" was launched
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Luna 1


1" was designed to impact the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the Soviet coat of arms that were included into its package. This mission was eventually accomplished by "Luna 2". "Luna 1" was launched at 16:41 GMT (22:41 local time) on 2 January 1959 from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Luna 8K72 rocket. "Luna 1" became the first man-made object to reach the escape velocity of the Earth, along with its carrier rocket's upper stage, which it separated
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Luna E-8-5 No. 402


had been launched by the Soviet Union in a last-ditch attempt to upstage the Apollo 11 landing under Moon race. Luna E-8-5 No.402 was launched at 04:00:07 UTC on 14 June 1969 atop a Proton-K 8K78K carrier rocket with a Blok D upper stage, flying from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The upper stage failed to ignite, and consequently the spacecraft failed to achieve orbit. Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted sample return mission
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Luna 12


Luna 12 (E-6LF series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 12. Luna 12 was launched towards the Moon from an Earth-orbiting platform and achieved lunar orbit on October 25, 1966. The spacecraft was equipped with a television system that obtained and transmitted photographs of the lunar surface. The photographs contained 1100 scan lines with a maximum resolution of 14.9-19.8 m. Pictures of the lunar surface were returned on October 27, 1966. The number of photographs is not known. Radio transmissions
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Luna 18


Luna 18, part of the Ye-8-5 series, was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program. "Luna 18" was placed in an Earth parking orbit after it was launched and was then sent towards the Moon. On 7 September 1971, it entered lunar orbit. The spacecraft completed 85 communications sessions and 54 lunar orbits before it was sent towards the lunar surface by use of braking rockets. It impacted the Moon on 11 September 1971, at 3 degrees 34 minutes N, 56 degrees 30 minutes E (
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Luna 3


photos. Luna 3 was radio-controlled from ground stations in the Soviet Union. After launching on a Luna 8K72 (number I1-8) rocket over the North Pole, the Blok-E escape stage was shut down by radio control to put Luna 3 on its course to the Moon. Initial radio contact showed that the signal from the space probe was only about one-half as strong as expected, and the internal temperature was rising. The spacecraft spin axis was reoriented and some equipment was shut down, resulting
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Luna E-3 No.2


they carried higher-resolution cameras, and were intended to make closer flybys. Luna E-3 No.2 was launched at 16:07:41 UTC on 16 April 1960, atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Blok-B strap-on booster reached only 75% thrust and broke away from the booster almost immediately at liftoff. The launch vehicle climbed to an altitude of about 200 meters before the imbalanced thrust caused it to pitch over, the remaining strap-ons breaking off and scattering in random
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Luna 13


lunar landscape at different Sun angles. Each panorama required approximately 100 minutes to transmit. The spacecraft was equipped with a mechanical soil-measuring penetrometer, a dynamograph, and a radiation densitometer for obtaining data on the mechanical and physical properties and the cosmic ray reflectivity of the lunar surface. Transmissions from the spacecraft ceased on December 28, 1966. Luna 13 became the third spacecraft to land successfully on the surface of the Moon (after Luna 9 and the American Surveyor 1). The probe landed in the Ocean of Storms at
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Trans-lunar injection


A trans-lunar injection (TLI) is a propulsive maneuver used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory that will cause it to arrive at the Moon. The first space probe to attempt TLI was the Soviet Union's Luna 1 on January 2, 1959 which was designed to impact the Moon. The burn however didn't go exactly as planned and the spacecraft missed the Moon by more than three times its radius and was sent into a heliocentric orbit. The Luna 2 performed the same maneuver more accurately on September 12,
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Tianzhou 1


braking maneuvers under ground control. It uses the first flight model of the Tianzhou. It is a Chinese automated cargo spacecraft developed from the Tiangong-1 to resupply its future modular space station. Tianzhou 1 launched successfully on 20 April 2017 at 7:41pm local time, from the Wenchang space center. This marked the second time a Long March 7 has been used, and the first one for a mission. Tianzhou-1 became the heaviest Chinese spacecraft ever launched, at that time. This mission demonstrated the Tianzhou spacecraft and its capabilities. It critically
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Luna 1


from after achieving heliocentric orbit. Due to a programming error, the duration of the upper stage's burn was incorrect, and consequently "Luna 1" failed to impact the Moon. The spacecraft passed within of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight. It remains in orbit around the Sun, between the orbits of Earth and Mars. At 00:56:20 UTC on 3 January, at a distance of from Earth, of sodium gas was released by the spacecraft, forming a cloud behind it to serve as
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Luna E-6 No.2


the first spacecraft to be launched in 1963, and consequently the first to be assigned an International Designator, under the new system which had been introduced at the start of the year. The spacecraft consisted of a cylindrical section containing rockets and fuel for maneuvering, attitude control and landing, as well as radio transmitters, and a instrumented probe, which would have been ejected onto the surface after the spacecraft landed, carrying a camera and devices to measure radiation. It was intended to return data on the mechanical characteristics of the lunar
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CASSIOPE


missions in the future. The eight e-POP scientific instruments were built, calibrated, and tested in 2005-2007, with integration onto the satellite bus for spacecraft-level testing in 2008-2009. The satellite was launched on September 29, 2013, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket. At the time the launch was contracted in 2005, a SpaceX Falcon 1 was the planned launch vehicle. The launch was originally scheduled for 2008 from Omelek Island. The launch date slipped several times, and after SpaceX discontinued
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Solar electric propulsion


Solar electric propulsion (SEP) typically refers to the combination of solar cells and an ion drive to propel a spacecraft through outer space. This technology has been exploited in a variety of spacecraft by the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, Indian Space Research Organisation and NASA. SEP is valued for its potential for a high specific impulse, thus allowing less mass for propellant to be launched with a spacecraft and it has been evaluated for mission to Mars. Solar electric propulsion combines solar panels on spacecraft and ion thrusters,
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Mars 2M No.521


, along with Mars 2M No.522, which was launched in 1969 as part of the Mars programme. Neither launch was successful. The Mars 2M probes were originally intended to consist of both an orbiter and a lander. Time constraints did not permit the development of a soft lander, so engineers decided to simply use a hard lander that would crash into the Martian surface but gather data during its descent. At first, a modified Luna E-8 bus was to be used for the spacecraft, however it had a number of
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EcAMSat


EcAMSat, or E. coli Anti Microbial Satellite, is NASA's first 6U CubeSat, developed to investigate the effects of microgravity on the antibiotic resistance of E. coli. The spacecraft was launched aboard an Orbital ATK Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility on 12 November 2017, and was deployed from the International Space Station on 20 November 2017. During the development of the PharmaSat spacecraft, two identical flight units were built and brought to the launch site, with the FLT-2 unit being the one ultimately launched as "PharmaSat". The FLT-1
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Luna 11


test for a future lunar rover. "Luna 11", launched only two weeks after the U.S. Lunar Orbiter, entered lunar orbit at 21:49 UT on 27 August. Parameters were 160 x 1,193 kilometers. During the mission, the TV camera failed to return usable images because the spacecraft lost proper orientation to face the lunar surface when a foreign object was lodged in the nozzle of one of the attitude-control thrusters. The other instruments functioned without fault before the mission formally ended on 1 October 1966 after the power supply had
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ASTRO (satellite)


, from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch was contracted by the Space Test Program to launch the STPSat-1 spacecraft, and was named STP-1. It also deployed NEXTSat; as well as FalconSAT-3, CFESat and MidSTAR-1. The launch marked the first time United Launch Alliance had launched an Atlas V, the type having previously been operated by International Launch Services. ASTRO was a spacecraft, which was built by Boeing. It was operated in low Earth orbit. On 9 March 2007, it had
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NEXTSat


from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch was contracted by the Space Test Program to launch the STPSat-1 spacecraft, and was named STP-1. It also deployed ASTRO; as well as FalconSAT-3, CFESat and MidSTAR-1. The launch marked the first time United Launch Alliance had launched an Atlas V, the type having previously been operated by International Launch Services. NEXTSat is a spacecraft, which was built by Ball Aerospace around the RS-300 satellite bus. It was operated in low Earth orbit; on 9
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Nimbus 4


Nimbus 4 (also called Nimbus D) was a meteorological satellite. It was the fourth in a series of the Nimbus program. Nimbus 4 was launched on April 8, 1970, by a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, CA. The spacecraft functioned nominally until 30 Sep 1980. The satellite orbited the Earth once every 1 hour and 47 minutes, at an inclination of 80°. Its perigee was and apogee was . Nimbus 4, the fourth in a series of second-generation meteorological
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RD-0109


, to save weight. This led to a 9.3% weight reduction even with the increased thrust. This new version was christened as the RD-0109 and entered service on the December 22, 1960, launch of a (Vostok) spacecraft aboard a Vostok-K 8K72K. The RD-0109 is the basis for the Brazilian Space Agency L75 engine project. While the first launches for Sputnik 1 satellites could be done with the two stage booster Sputnik, to achieve escape velocity required by the Luna programme, a third stage was needed. The task
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Luna 14


Luna 14 (E-6LS series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program run by the Soviet Union. It was also called Lunik 14. The spacecraft is believed to have been similar to Luna 12 and the instrumentation was similar to that carried by Luna 10. It provided data for studies of the interaction of the earth and lunar masses, the lunar gravitational field, the propagation and stability of radio communications to the spacecraft at different orbital positions, solar charged particles and cosmic rays, and the motion of the Moon.
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Phobos 1


Phobos 1 was an unmanned Russian space probe of the Phobos Program launched from the Baikonour launch facility on 7 July 1988. Its intended mission was to explore Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. The mission failed on 2 September 1988 when a computer malfunction caused the end-of-mission order to be transmitted to the spacecraft. At the time of launch it was the heaviest interplanetary spacecraft ever launched, weighing . It was to take an estimated 200 days for the "Phobos 1" space probe to travel from the Earth
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Earth Escape Explorer


Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E) is a nanosatellite of the 6-Unit CubeSat format that will demonstrate long-distance communications while in heliocentric orbit. The "Earth Escape Explorer" spacecraft is a student-driven effort at University of Colorado Boulder to design and build the spacecraft as part of the NASA CubeQuest Challenge. It will be one of thirteen CubeSats to be carried with the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft, scheduled to launch in
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Shenzhou 1


Shenzhou 1 () launched on November 19, 1999, was the first unmanned launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft. The spacecraft used was not equipped with a life support system or an emergency escape system. After orbiting the Earth 14 times, the command for retrofire was sent by the "Yuanwang 3" tracking ship off the coast of Namibia at 18:49 UTC. After a successful reentry it landed about 415 km east of its launch pad and 110 km north-west of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia. The first Shenzhou spacecraft was different
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Luna (rocket)


instead passed within of the Moon's surface 4 January 1959, and then went into orbit around the Sun between the orbits of Earth and Mars. The fifth flight of a Luna 8K72 (July 1959) ended 220 seconds after launch due to a guidance malfunction of the Blok A core stage, leading to RSO destruct. Luna 2 was launched by a Luna 8K72 12 September 1959. It was the first spacecraft to impact the lunar surface. The final successful launch of a Luna 8K72 took place 4 October 1959. The Luna
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Spacecraft magnetometer


magnetometers, this configuration had considerable interference. With this spacecraft, the sun induced magnetic oscillations and this allowed the continued use of the magnetometer after the sun sensor failed. Explorer 10 had two fluxgate magnetometers but is technically classified as a dual technique since it also had a rubidium vapor magnetometer. The Sputnik-3 had a vector fluxgate magnetometer, however because the orientation of the spacecraft could not be determined the direction vector for the magnetic field could not be determined. Three axis magnetometers were used on Luna 1, Luna 2, Pioneer Venus
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2007 in spaceflight


and Mauritian satellites, Libertad 1 and Rascom-QAF 1 respectively, were launched in 2007, although a helium leak reduced Rascom's operational lifetime by thirteen years. Several spacecraft were launched to explore the Moon. Japan's Kaguya orbiter, along with the smaller Okina and Ouna relay spacecraft, was launched on 14 September. The spacecraft entered Selenocentric orbit on 3 October. China launched its first Lunar probe, Chang'e 1, on 24 October, with the spacecraft entering Selenocentric orbit on 5 November. In 2009, two satellites launched
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TMK


TMK ( - "Tyazhely Mezhplanetny Korabl" or "Heavy Interplanetary Spacecraft") was the designation of a Soviet space exploration project to send a crewed flight to Mars and Venus (TMK-MAVR design) without landing. The TMK-1 spacecraft was due to be launched in 1971 and make a three-year-long flight including a Mars flyby, at which time probes would have been dropped. Expanded project variations, such as the TMK-E, Mavr or KK, including a Venus flyby, electric propulsion or a crewed
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Luna 23


" landed several hundred meters away and successfully returned samples. The asteroid-like object 2010 KQ is believed to be a rocket that parted the "Luna 23" module after launch. "Luna 23" was the first modified lunar sample return spacecraft, designed to return a deep core sample of the Moon's surface (hence the change in index from Ye-8-5 to Ye-8-5M). While "Luna 16" and "Luna 20" had returned samples from a depth of 0.3 meters, the new spacecraft
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PnPSat-1


PnPSat-1 initiated in 2004 (also known as Plug-and-Play Satellite) is an experimental satellite built by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory. The spacecraft was the first choice for the third flight of the Falcon 1 rocket in August 2008, but was not selected because it was not completed at that time. The primary mission is to demonstrate concepts of plug-and-play spacecraft development by successfully constructing and launching a spacecraft based on several technologies developed for that purpose. The design of the spacecraft centers on the
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Kosmos 167


Kosmos 167 ( meaning "Cosmos 167"), or 4V-1 No.311, was a 1967 Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Venus. A 4V-1 spacecraft launched as part of the Venera programme, Kosmos 167 was intended to land on Venus, but never departed low Earth orbit due to a launch failure. The 4V-1 No.311 spacecraft was the second of two 4V-1 vehicles built and operated by Lavochkin, following Venera 4. A Molniya-M carrier rocket was used to launch 3MV-4 No.6. The launch occurred from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
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Luna 10


. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on April 3, 1966 and completed its first orbit 3 hours later (on April 4, Moscow time). After a midcourse correction on 1 April, Luna 10, the second of two hastily prepared Soviet Ye-6S probes (that is, the backup), successfully entered lunar orbit two days later at 18:44 UT. A 245-kilogram instrument compartment separated from the main bus, which was in a 350 x 1,000-kilometer orbit inclined at 71.9° to the lunar equator.br Luna 10 was battery powered and operated
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Luna 3


gravity assist maneuver was first used in 1959 when Luna 3 photographed the far side of Earth's Moon. After launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Luna 3 passed behind the Moon from south to north and headed back to Earth. The gravity of the Moon changed the spacecraft's orbit; also, because of the Moon's own orbital motion, the spacecraft's orbital plane was also changed. The return orbit was calculated so that the spacecraft passed again over the Northern hemisphere where the Soviet ground stations were located. The maneuver relied
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Mars program


"Marsnik" by the Western media. Mars 1 was launched in 1962 but failed en route to Mars. Two other Soviet launches at around the same time, Mars 2MV-4 No.1 and Mars 2MV-3 No.1 were spacecraft, however both failed to leave Earth orbit due to problems with the upper stages of their carrier rockets. Mars 2M No.521 and Mars 2M No.522, known in the West as Mars 1969A and B, were heavier spacecraft with masses of . They were launched by Proton-K rockets, and consisted of orbiters
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Luna 7


Luna 7 (E-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 7. The "Luna 7" spacecraft was intended to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. However, due to premature retrofire and cutoff of the retrorockets, the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface in Oceanus Procellarum. Unlike its predecessors successfully carried out its mid-course correction on October 5 on the way to the Moon, in anticipation of a soft-landing two days later. However, immediately prior to planned retro
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Mars 1M


Mars 1M was a series of two unmanned spacecraft which were used in the first Soviet missions to explore Mars. They were the earliest missions of the Mars program. The Western media dubbed the spacecraft "Marsnik", a portmanteau of "Mars" and "Sputnik". Mars 1M No.1, known in the West as Marsnik 1, Mars 1960A and Korabl 4, was destroyed in a launch failure on October 10, 1960. In 1962, NASA Administrator James E. Webb informed the United States Congress that NASA believed
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Mars 2M No.522


the cosmodrome as a pool of spilled nitrogen tetroxide was blocking one of the entryways out, while other entryway was blocked by the still-intact second stage of the rocket. By the time this had happened, the alignment of Earth and Mars necessary to launch spacecraft had ended, and the Soviets were unable to launch any further Mars probes until 1971. It also resulted in delays to a number of Luna spacecraft scheduled for launch in 1969.The accident left a deep impression on Soviet military personnel attending the launch and helped spur the development
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Progress M-1


Progress M-1 (), was a Soviet unmanned cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1989 to resupply the Mir space station. The eighteenth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it was the first Progress-M spacecraft to be launched, and had the serial number 201. It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-5 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. At the time of docking, Mir was unmanned,
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