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.[1] Like many other Soviet launchers of that era the Luna 8K72 vehicles were derived from the R-7 Semyorka design, part of the R-7 (rocket family), which was also the basis for the Vostok and modern Soyuz rocket.

Block-E upper stage, with Luna payload

The first flight of a Luna 8K72 (September 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.1 probe, 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.[2]

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 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.

Luna 1

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.[3] Luna 1 instead passed within 5,995 kilometres (3,725 mi) of the Moon's surface 4 January 1959, and then went into orbit around the Sun between the orbits of Earth and Mars.[4]

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

Luna 2 was launched by a Luna 8K72 12 September 1959. It was the first spacecraft to impact the lunar surface.

Luna 3

The final successful launch of a Luna 8K72 took place 4 October 1959. The Luna 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 exploding as they impacted the ground. The Blok A core stage then crashed into a salt lake.

References

"Soyuz - Version: Luna 8K72". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17.
"Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures". NASA NSSDC. 2005-01-06.
"Soyuz - Soyuz Chronology". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17.
"Luna 1 - NSSDC ID: 1959-012A". NASA.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Soyuz - Version: Luna 8K72". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17.

[tent-2] "Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures". NASA NSSDC. 2005-01-06.

[3] "Soyuz - Soyuz Chronology". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17.

[4] "Luna 1 - NSSDC ID: 1959-012A". NASA.

Soviet, and Russian launch vehicles
Active	Angara A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v UR Proton-M Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F
In development	Amur Angara 1.2 Cyclone-4M Irtysh Soyuz-7
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon original 2 3 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M
Cancelled (no launch attempts)	Tsyklon-4 Proton Light Medium

Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Ceres-1 Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11^† Kaituozhe 2 LauncherOne Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 7 7A^† 8 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qased Rocket 3^† Safir Shavit Simorgh^† Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1^†
In development	Amur Angara 1.2 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Alpha Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 921 rocket 9 Miura 5 New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime SLS Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 Vega C Vega E Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Saturn I IB V Scout SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates historical or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but did not ever succeed (never did or has performed a successful orbital launch)