Luna (rocket)

Launches

The Luna 8K72 was launched nine times from Baikonur LC-1/5. The first flight, intended to carry Luna E-1 No.1, broke up 92 seconds after launch due to longitudinal (pogo) oscillations, causing the strap-ons to separate and the vehicle to crash. The second flight, for Luna E-1 No.2, disintegrated from vibration 104 seconds after launch. The third flight, for Luna E-1 No.3, ended 245 seconds after launch when the Blok A core stage shut down from loss of engine lubricant. The resonant vibration problem led to a major argument between the Korolev and Glushko design bureaus, believed to stem from adding the Blok E upper stage, which shifted the center of mass. The first probe to reach orbit was Luna 1, launched on 2 January 1959, intended as a lunar impactor but passing within 5995 km of the Moon and entering solar orbit. The fifth flight, on 18 June 1959 for Luna E-1A No.1, ended 153 seconds after launch due to a guidance malfunction in the Blok A core stage. Luna 2, launched on 12 September 1959, became the first spacecraft to impact the lunar surface. The final successful launch, on 4 October 1959, carried Luna 3, which took the first photographs of the far side of the Moon. The eighth flight, in March 1960 for Luna E-3 No.1, ended 435 seconds after launch when the Blok E upper stage produced insufficient thrust, causing the probe to reenter and burn up. The ninth flight, in April 1960 for Luna E-3 No.2, failed when a Blok G strap-on booster developed only 75% thrust at liftoff, breaking away and causing the vehicle to disintegrate, with the core stage crashing into a salt lake.