Luna programme

The Luna programme (from the Russian word Луна "Luna" meaning "Lunar" or "Moon"), occasionally called Lunik by western media, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation.

Locations of Luna landings on the Moon are marked in red; Apollo missions in green, and Surveyor in yellow.
CountrySoviet Union
PurposeUncrewed exploration of the Moon
StatusCompleted
Program history
Duration1958–1976
First flight
Last flight
Successes15
Failures29
Partial failures0
Launch site(s)Baikonur Cosmodrome
Vehicle information
Launch vehicle(s)

Twenty-four spacecraft 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.[1] The estimated cost of the Luna programme in 1964 was US$6–10 billion.[2]

Mission types

The name Luna was used to designate a variety of spacecraft designs, to achieve several types of missions:

Impactors

Luna 1 impactor

Impactor spacecraft are designed to hit the near side of the Moon, transmitting photographs back to Earth until their destruction on impact. Luna 1 (January 1959) missed its intended impact with the Moon and became the first spacecraft to escape the Earth-Moon system.[3] Luna 2 (September 1959) mission successfully hit the Moon's surface, becoming the first man-made object to reach the Moon.[4] This was Luna's only impact success out of six tries from September 1958 to September 1959.

The United States competed with the Luna impactors via the Ranger programme, which performed four successful impacts in nine attempts from August 1961 to March 1965.

Flybys

A flyby is the simplest lunar spacecraft, requiring neither a propulsion device for slowing, nor a guidance system sensitive enough to hit the Moon. Its function is to transmit photographs back to Earth. Luna 3 (October 1959) rounded the Moon later that year, and returned the first photographs of its far side, which can never be seen from Earth.[4] This was Luna's only successful flyby, out of three tries from October 1959 to April 1960.

The United States launched two lunar flyby probes as part of its Pioneer program. Pioneer 3, launched on 6 December 1958, failed to reach the Moon. Pioneer 4 succeeded in flying by the Moon on 6 March 1959 and achieved a heliocentric orbit.

Soft landers

Soft landers require rocket propulsion to slow their speed sufficiently to prevent the craft's destruction. It can continue to transmit pictures from the surface, and possibly dig into the lunar soil or return other information about the lunar environment. Luna 9 (February 1966) became the first probe to achieve a soft landing on another planetary body. It transmitted five black and white stereoscopic circular panoramas, which were the first close-up shots of the lunar surface.[3] Two successful soft landings were achieved out of thirteen attempts from January 1963 to December 1966.

The United States competed with the Luna landers by the Surveyor programme, which performed five successful landings out of seven attempts from June 1966 to January 1968.

Orbiters

Orbiter spacecraft require less thrust and propellant than landers, but still, require enough to achieve lunar orbit insertion. Luna 10 (March 1966) became the first artificial satellite of the Moon.[4] Luna flew six successful orbiters out of eight attempts from March 1966 to May 1974.

The United States attempted a series of seven lunar orbiter probes as part of its Pioneer program from August 1958 to December 1960; all (Pioneer 0, Pioneer 1, Pioneer 2, Pioneer P-1, Pioneer P-3, Pioneer P-30, and Pioneer P-31) were failures. Later, the US successfully flew five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft from August 1966 to August 1967, to map 99% of the lunar surface and help select landing sites for the Apollo crewed landing programme.

Rovers

Model of Lunokhod vehicle

More sophisticated soft lander craft can deploy wheeled vehicles to explore a wider area of the lunar surface than the immediate landing site. The first attempted Lunokhod failed in February 1969. Luna 17 (November 1970) and Luna 21 (January 1973) carried Lunokhod vehicles, which were the first robotic wheeled vehicles to explore the Moon's terrain.[4] Lunokhod 1 travelled 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) in 322 days and returned more than 20,000 television images and 206 high-resolution panoramas.[5] Lunokhod 2 operated for about four months, covered 42 kilometres (26 mi) of terrain,[6] A third Lunokhod was built and intended for launch in 1977, but never flew due to lack of launchers and funding.[7]

The United States landed crewed rovers (Lunar Roving Vehicles) on Apollo 15 (July–August 1971), Apollo 16 (April 1972), and Apollo 17 (December 1972). Apollo 15 covered 27.9 kilometres (17.3 mi); Apollo 16 covered 26.7 kilometres (16.6 mi), and Apollo 17 covered 35.74 kilometres (22.21 mi).

Sample return

Luna 16 sample return probe

More complex soft lander craft can robotically scoop up a small amount of lunar material, lift off from the surface, and return the material to Earth. Luna 16 (September 1970), Luna 20 (February 1972) and Luna 24 (August 1976), returned samples of lunar soil to Earth.[4] A total of 301 g (10.6 oz) of soil sample was returned from the three missions.

The United States achieved lunar sample return with crewed lunar landings on the Apollo program, which successfully landed six two-man crews out of seven attempts from July 1969 to December 1972. A total of 380.96 kg (839.87 lb) of human-selected rocks and soil was returned to Earth.[8]

Luna 15 (July 1969) flew at the same time as the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had already performed the first crewed lunar landing when Luna 15 began its descent, and the spacecraft crashed into a mountain minutes later.

Mission success rates

While the programme was active, it was Soviet practice not to release any details of missions that 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.[9]

LunaCompeting United States programmes
TypeFirst attemptAttemptsFirst successSuccessesRateFirst attemptAttemptsFirst successSuccessesRate
Impactor23 Sep 19586Luna 2
Sep 13, 1959
116.7%Ranger 1
23 Aug 1961
9Ranger 7
31 July 1964
333.3%[10]
FlybyLuna 3
6 Oct 1959
3Luna 3133.3%Pioneer 3
6 Dec 1958
2Pioneer 4
6 Mar 1959
150.0%
Soft lander4 Jan 196313Luna 9
3 Feb 1966
215.4%Surveyor 1
2 Jun 1966
7Surveyor 1571.4%
Orbiter1 Mar 19668Luna 10
3 Apr 1966
675.0%Pioneer 0
17 Aug 1958
12Lunar Orbiter 1
18 Aug 1966
541.7%
Rover19 Feb 19693Luna 17
17 Nov 1970
266.7%Apollo 15
31 July 1971
3Apollo 153100.0%
Sample return14 Jun 196911Luna 16
24 Sep, 1970
327.3%Apollo 11
24 Jul 1969
7Apollo 11685.7%
Total441534.1%Total402460.0%

Mission details

Public name Internal name Mission Launch date Carrier rocket Outcome Remarks
N/AE-1 No.1Impactor23 September 1958LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
N/AE-1 No.2Impactor11 October 1958LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
N/AE-1 No.3Impactor4 December 1958LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 1E-1 No.4Impactor2 January 1959LunaLaunch failureAlso known as Mechta; placed onto incorrect trajectory, flew past the Moon without impacting; first spacecraft to escape geocentric orbit
N/AE-1A No.1Impactor18 June 1959LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 2E-1A No.2Impactor12 September 1959LunaSuccessfulImpacted Palus Putredinis (29.10 N, 0.00 E) on the Moon on 14 September 1959 at ~07:30 GMT. First man-made object to reach the Moon.
Luna 3E-2A No.1Flyby4 October 1959LunaSuccessfulTook first photographs of the far side of the Moon.
N/AE-3 No.1Flyby15 April 1960LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
N/AE-3 No.2Flyby16 April 1960LunaLaunch failureFailed to orbit
N/AE-6 No.2Lander4 January 1963Molniya-LLaunch failureNever left LEO
N/AE-6 No.3Lander3 February 1963Molniya-LLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 4E-6 No.4Lander2 April 1963Molniya-LSpacecraft failureFailed to perform course correction manoeuvre; flew past the Moon
N/AE-6 No.6Lander21 March 1964Molniya-MLaunch failureFailed to orbit
N/AE-6 No.5Lander20 April 1964Molniya-MLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Kosmos 60E-6 No.9Lander12 March 1965Molniya-LLaunch failureNever left LEO, decayed five days later
N/AE-6 No.8Lander10 April 1965Molniya-LLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 5E-6 No.10Lander9 May 1965Molniya-MSpacecraft failureFailed to decelerate; impacted Mare Nubium
Luna 6E-6 No.7Lander8 June 1965Molniya-MSpacecraft failureFailed to perform course correction manoeuvre; flew past the Moon
Luna 7E-6 No.11Lander4 October 1965MolniyaSpacecraft failureAttitude control failure; impacted Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 8E-6 No.12Lander3 December 1965MolniyaSpacecraft failureAttitude control failure; impacted Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 9E-6 No.13Lander31 January 1966Molniya-MSuccessfulLanded in Oceanus Procellarum (7.08 N, 295.63 E) 18:44:52 GMT on 3 February 1966
Kosmos 111E-6S No.204Orbiter1 March 1966Molniya-MLaunch failureNever left LEO, decayed two days later
Luna 10E-6S No.206Orbiter31 March 1966Molniya-MSuccessful
Luna 11E-6LF No.101Orbiter24 August 1966Molniya-MSuccessful
Luna 12E-6LF No.102Orbiter22 October 1966Molniya-MSuccessful
Luna 13E-6M No.205Lander21 December 1966Molniya-MSuccessfulLanded in Oceanus Procellarum (18.87 N, 297.95 E) 18:01 GMT on 24 December 1966
N/AE-6LS No.112Orbiter7 February 1968Molniya-MLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 14E-6LS No.113Orbiter7 April 1968Molniya-MSuccessful
N/AE-8 No.201Rover19 February 1969Proton-K/DLaunch failureFirst attempt to launch Lunokhod. Failed to orbit, Lunokhod destroyed.
N/AE-8-5 No.402Sample return14 June 1969Proton-K/DLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 15E-8-5 No.401Sample return13 July 1969Proton-K/DSpacecraft failureEntered selenocentric orbit successfully, failed during descent on 21 July 1969; impacted the Moon while Apollo 11 was on the surface
Kosmos 300E-8-5 No.403Sample return23 September 1969Proton-K/DLaunch failureNever left LEO, decayed four days later
Kosmos 305E-8-5 No.404Sample return22 October 1969Proton-K/DLaunch failureNever left LEO, decayed two days later
N/AE-8-5 No.405Sample return6 February 1970Proton-K/DLaunch failureFailed to orbit
Luna 16E-8-5 No.406Sample return12 September 1970Proton-K/DSuccessfulLanded in Mare Fecunditatis (0.68 S, 56.30 E) at 05:18 GMT on 20 September 1970. Sample returned to Earth on 24 September 1970
Luna 17E-8 No.203Rover10 November 1970Proton-K/DSuccessfulLanded in Mare Imbrium (38.28 N, 325.00 E) at 03:47 GMT on 17 November 1970. Deployed Lunokhod 1
Luna 18E-8-5 No.407Sample return2 September 1971Proton-K/DSpacecraft failureEntered selenocentric orbit successfully, failed during descent; impacted Mare Fecunditatis (3.57 N, 50.50 E)
Luna 19E-8LS No.202Orbiter28 September 1971Proton-K/DSuccessful
Luna 20E-8-5 No.408Sample return14 February 1972Proton-K/DSuccessfulLanded in Mare Fecunditatis (3.57 N, 56.50 E) at 19:19 UTC on 21 February 1972. Sample returned to Earth on 25 February 1972
Luna 21E-8 No.204Rover8 January 1973Proton-K/DSuccessfulLanded in Le Monnier (25.85 N, 30.45 E) at 23:35 UTC on 15 January 1973. Deployed Lunokhod 2
Luna 22E-8LS No.206Orbiter29 May 1974Proton-K/DSuccessful
Luna 23E-8-5M No.410Sample return28 October 1974Proton-K/DSpacecraft failureLanded in Mare Crisium, fell over upon landing
N/AE-8-5M No.412Sample return16 October 1975Proton-K/DLaunch failureFailed to orbit, intended to return a sample from Mare Crisium
Luna 24E-8-5M No.413Sample return9 August 1976Proton-K/DSuccessfulLanded in Mare Crisium (12.25 N, 62.20 E) at 02:00 UTC on 18 August 1976. Sample returned to Earth on 22 August 1976

See also

References

  1. Zak, Anatoly. "Planetary Spacecraft – Moon Missions". RussianSpaceWeb.com.
  2. "Comparison of US and Estimated Soviet Expenditures for Space Programs" (PDF). CIA. August 1964.
  3. Siddiqi, Asif A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF). The NASA history series (second ed.). Washington, D.C.: NASA History Program Office. p. 1. ISBN 9781626830424. LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
  4. Siddiqi, Asif A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF). The NASA history series (second ed.). Washington, D.C.: NASA History Program Office. p. 2. ISBN 9781626830424. LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
  5. "Lunokhod 1 Panoramas". planetology.ru. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  6. Wall, Mike (11 July 2013). "NASA Moon Probe Helps Revise Off-Planet Driving Record | Lunokhod 2". Space.com. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  7. Chaikin, Andy (February–March 2004). "The Other Moon Landings". Air & Space. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014.
  8. Orloff, Richard W. (September 2004) [First published 2000]. "Extravehicular Activity". Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA History Division, Office of Policy and Plans. The NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN 978-0-16-050631-4. LCCN 00061677. NASA SP-2000-4029. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  9. Williams, David R. "Tentative IDs". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  10. "National Space Science Data Center - Ranger 6". National Air and Space Administration. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
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