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By
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_program  | |
Luna 1 |
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Luna 3 |
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Luna 9 |
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Luna 16 |
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Luna 17 |
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Luna 24 |
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Location of Luna missions on the Moon |
The Luna programme (from the Russian word "Luna" meaning "Moon"), occasionally called Lunik or Lunnik, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation. Twenty-four spacecraft were formally given the Luna designation, although more were launched. Those which failed to reach orbit were not publicly acknowledged at the time and not assigned a Luna number and ones which failed in low Earth orbit were usually given Cosmos designations [1]. The estimated cost of Luna Program was about $4.5 billion.
Achievements
Luna 1 missed its intended impact with the Moon and became the first spacecraft to fall into orbit around the Sun.
In 1959, the Luna 2 mission successfully impacted upon the lunar surface, becoming the first man-made object to reach the Moon.
Luna 3 rounded the Moon later that year, and returned the first photographs of its far side, which can never be seen from Earth.
Luna 9 became the first probe to achieve a soft landing on another planetary body (February 1966). It returned five black and white stereoscopic circular panoramas, which were the first close-up shots of the Lunar surface.
Later that year Luna 10 became the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 17 and Luna 21 carried roving vehicles which roamed around on the Moon's terrain (see Lunokhod programme).
Another major achievement of the Luna programme, with Luna 16, Luna 20 and Luna 24 spacecrafts, was the ability to collect samples of lunar soil and return them to Earth, by 1970. The program returned 0.326 kg of lunar samples. The Luna missions were the first space-exploration sample return missions to rely solely on advanced robotics.
Other notable missions
Luna 15, also designed to return soil samples from the lunar surface, holds the significance of undergoing its mission at the same time as the historic Apollo 11 mission. Arguably a last-ditch attempt to steal thunder from the potential American success, it would have returned lunar samples to Earth before the Apollo astronauts could do so. However, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were already on the lunar surface when Luna 15 began its descent, and the spacecraft crashed into a mountain minutes later.
Missions
- Luna 1958A
- Luna 1958B
- Luna 1958C
- Luna 1
- Luna 1959A
- Luna 2
- Luna 3
- Luna 1960A
- Luna 1960B
- Luna - Sputnik 25
- Launched January 4, 1963 (failed to escape orbit and decayed back into the atmosphere after just one day)
- Soft landing attempt
- Luna 1963B
- Luna 4
- Launched April 2, 1963
- Lunar Flyby (Soft landing attempt)
- Luna 1964A
- Luna 1964B
- Luna - Cosmos 60
- Launched March 12, 1965 (failed to escape orbit and decayed back into the atmosphere after five days)
- Soft landing attempt
- Luna 1965A
- Luna 5
- Luna 6
- Launched June 8, 1965
- Attempted Lander - Missed Moon
- Luna 7
- Luna 8
- Luna 9
- Luna - Cosmos 111
- Launched March 1, 1966 (failed to escape orbit and decayed back into the atmosphere after two days)
- Lunar orbit attempt
- Luna 10
- Luna 1966A
- Luna 11
- Luna 12
- Luna 13
- Luna 1968A
- Luna 14
- Luna 1969A
- Luna 1969B
- Luna 1969C
- Launch failure June 14, 1969
- Lunar Sample Return attempt
- Luna 15
- Launched July 13, 1969
- Lunar Orbiter (attempted lander)
- Luna - Cosmos 300
- Launched September 23, 1969
- Lunar Sample Return attempt (failed to escape orbit and decayed back into the atmosphere after four days)
- Luna - Cosmos 305
- Launched October 22, 1969
- Lunar Sample Return attempt (failed to escape orbit and decayed back into the atmosphere after two days)
- Luna 1970A
- Luna 1970B
- Luna 16
- Luna 17/Lunokhod 1
- Luna 18
- Launched September 2, 1971
- Lunar Impact (Lunar Sample Return attempt)
- Latitude 3.57 N, Longitude 50.50 E - Mare Fecunditatis
- Luna 19
- Luna 20
- Luna 21/Lunokhod 2
- Luna 22
- Luna 23
- Luna 1975A
- Luna 24
See also
External links
Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Published in July 2009.
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