Cosmos 111

Cosmos 111 was the first Soviet attempt to orbit a spacecraft around the Moon. The design was probably similar to the later successful Luna 10 spacecraft. Cosmos 111 was produced in less than a month, one of two spacecraft developed from the E-6 lander bus in a crash program to upstage America's Lunar Orbiter series and to commemorate the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party (held March 1966).