Luna programme

Did You Know?

• Missions that failed to reach orbit were not publicly acknowledged at the time and were not assigned a Luna number.
• Those that failed in low Earth orbit were usually given Cosmos designations.
• The estimated cost of the Luna programme in 1964 was US$6–10 billion.

Mission types

The Luna designation covered several spacecraft designs for flyby, lunar orbiter, soft lander, and sample return missions. Impactor spacecraft, designated Ye-1 (or E-1), aimed to hit the near side of the Moon; Luna 1 missed and became the first spacecraft to escape the Earth-Moon system, while Luna 2 successfully struck the lunar surface, the first man-made object to reach the Moon. Only one impact succeeded out of six attempts from September 1958 to September 1959. Flyby spacecraft, with generic designations Ye-2 and Ye-3, transmitted photographs back to Earth without needing propulsion to slow or precise guidance to hit the Moon. Luna 3 returned the first images of the far side in October 1959, the only successful flyby out of three tries from October 1959 to April 1960. Soft landers used rocket propulsion to slow for a survivable touchdown, then transmitted pictures and could dig into the soil. Luna program landers, designated Ye-6 or Ye-6M, achieved two successful soft landings out of thirteen attempts from January 1963 to December 1966. Luna 9 (E-6 No.13) made the first soft landing on another planetary body in February 1966, sending back five black-and-white stereoscopic circular panoramas—the first close-up views of the lunar surface.