Failure
Luna-5a
Lunar Exploration
Soviet Space Program(CCCP)Government
Molniya 8K78
LOorbit
Ye-6 series probe designed to land on the Moon. Failed to reach orbit.
Saturday, March 21, 1964 at 8:15 AM
Mission details
The Luna program was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. The program accomplished many firsts in space exploration, including first flyby of the Moon, first impact of the Moon and first photos of the far side of the Moon. Each mission was designed as either an orbiter or lander. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation.
Sep 23, 1958 — Aug 22, 1976
Orbital Attempt
#309
CCCP Mission
#77
Pad Launch
#58
Location Launch
#59
Launch Window
NET
Mar 21, 1964, 8:15 AM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.
Timezone
Asia/Qyzylorda
Local Launch Time
Mar 21, 1964, 1:15 PM
Total Launches
1,563
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
45.9650, 63.3050
Molniya 8K78 Specs
The Molniya was a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and had four stages. The 8K78 resulted from a crash program by the Korolev Bureau to develop a booster for launching planetary probes. A larger third stage was added along with a fourth stage (Blok L) that was designed to fire in-orbit to send the payload out of LEO. The basic R-7 core was also structurally strengthened and given more powerful engines. A rushed development produced multiple malfunctions of the upper stages, which led to its being replaced by the improved Molniya-M in 1964, but there were enough 8K78s left to continue flying them into 1967.
Length
43.44 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch Mass
305 t
Thrust
813 kN
LEO Capacity
1,900 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1960
Fastest Turnaround
2d 23h
Total Launches
40
Successful
20
Failed
20
Consecutive Success
6
Maiden flight: Oct 10, 1960
Soviet Space Program
The Soviet space program, was the national space program of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) actived from 1930s until disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union's space program was mainly based on the cosmonautic exploration of space and the development of the expandable launch vehicles, which had been split between many design bureaus competing against each other. Over its 60-years of history, the Russian program was responsible for a number of pioneering feats and accomplishments in the human space flight, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7), first satellite (Sputnik 1), first animal in Earth orbit (the dog Laika on Sputnik 2), first human in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1), first woman in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6), first spacewalk (cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2), first Moon impact (Luna 2), first image of the far side of the Moon (Luna 3) and unmanned lunar soft landing (Luna 9), first space rover (Lunokhod 1), first sample of lunar soil automatically extracted and brought to Earth (Luna 16), and first space station (Salyut 1). Further notable records included the first interplanetary probes: Venera 1 and Mars 1 to fly by Venus and Mars, respectively, Venera 3 and Mars 2 to impact the respective planet surface, and Venera 7 and Mars 3 to make soft landings on these planets.
Founded
1931
Total Launches
2,456
Successful
2,288
Failed
168
Pending
0
Consecutive Success
17