NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Failure

E-6 n°6

Launch Time
Sat Mar 21, 1964 08:15 UTC

The launch was a failure due to an error on the third Block I stage.

Rocket

Molniya
RVSN USSR
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 4,378 kN
Payload to LEO: 6,000 kg
Payload to GTO: 2,200 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 4
Rocket Height: 44.23 m
Fairing Diameter: 2.58 m
Fairing Height: 6.74 m

Mission Details

E-6 n°6

Luna E-6 n°6, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1964A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1964. It was a 1,422-kilogram 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.
Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempt to land a spacecraft on the Moon.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 1,422.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

Site 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

1964

16th orbital launch attempt

Molniya

16th mission
2nd mission of 1964
12th failed mission