E-6 n°8 (Luna)

Launch Failure

Liftoff Time (GMT)

08:39:01

Saturday April 10, 1965

Mission Details

Launch Notes

During third stage flight, a nitrogen pipeline in the oxidiser tank depressurised, which caused a loss of oxidiser flow to the engine and resulted in the engine cutting off. The spacecraft failed to achieve orbit, and the spacecraft disintegrated on reentry.

E-6 n°8 (Luna)

Wiki

E-6 n°8, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1965A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1965. It was a 1,422-kilogram 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. 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.

Lunar orbit

1 Payload

1,422 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Molniya

Active 1960 to 1967

RKK Energiya logo

Manufacturer

RKK Energiya

Rocket

Height: 44.23m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 6,000 kg

GTO: 2,200 kg

Liftoff Thrust

4,378 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 2.58m

Height: 6.74m

Stages

4

Strap-ons

4

Launch Site

Site 1/5

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Fastest Turnaround

23 hr 32 min

Stats

Molniya


24th

Mission

2nd

Mission of 1965

RKK Energiya


124th

Mission

13th

Mission of 1965

1965


33rd

Orbital launch attempt