NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Failure

E-6 n°8 (Luna)

Launch Time
Sat Apr 10, 1965 08:39 UTC

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.

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°8 (Luna)

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.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 1,422.0 kg
Lunar orbit

Location

Site 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

1965

33rd orbital launch attempt

Molniya

24th mission
2nd mission of 1965
16th failed mission