Luna-1

Launch Partial Failure

Liftoff Time (GMT)

16:41:21

Friday January 2, 1959

Mission Details

Launch Notes

Due to a malfunction of the ground control system, the duration of the second stage burn was incorrect, and it missed the moon by 5,995 kilometers, becoming the first man-made object to escape Earth.

Luna-1

Wiki

The Ye-1 series of soviet lunar probes were the first attempt to reach the surface of the moon. Only one of four probes was successfully launched, receiving the name Luna 1 (also Lunik 1), but missed the moon. The 361 kg Ye-1 probes consisted of a spherical, pressurized container. Five antennae extended from one hemisphere, while instrument ports protruded from the surface of the sphere. The probes were battery powered and contained radio equipment, a tracking transmitter, a telemetry system, five different sets of scientific devices for studying interplanetary space (including a magnetometer, Geiger counter, scintillation counter, and micrometeorite detector), and other equipment. During the flight to the moon, the upper stage of the launch vehicle released a 1 kg sodium cloud for tracking purposes. At the end of their journey, the Ye-1 probes would crash into the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the Soviet coat of arms.

Trans Lunar Injection

1 Payload

361 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Vostok

Active 1958 to 1964

OKB-1 logo

Manufacturer

OKB-1

Rocket

Height: 38.36m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 4,730 kg

GTO: 0 kg

Liftoff Thrust

4,570 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 2.58m

Height: 6.74m

Stages

3

Strap-ons

4

Launch Site

Site 1/5

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Fastest Turnaround

23 hr 32 min

Stats

Vostok


4th

Mission

1st

Mission of 1959

OKB-1


8th

Mission

1st

Mission of 1959

1959


1st

Orbital launch attempt