Luna 5

LunarOrbiter
Name=Luna 5


Organization=Soviet Union
Contractors=OKB-1
MissionType=Planetary Science
Lunar landing
LaunchDate=May 9, 1965 at 07:55:00 UTC
LaunchVehicle=Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6)
MissionHighlight=Lunar impact (see below)
MissionDuration=3 days
Mass=1,474 kg
NSSDC_ID=1965-036A
Web= [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1965-036A NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
SatelliteOf=Moon
SemiMajor=
Eccentricity=
Inclination=
Period=
Apo=
Peri=
Orbits=none
LunarLandingDate=Lunar impact
May 12, 1965, 19:10 UTC
LunarLandingCoords=Lunar coords and quad cat|31|S|8|W
LunarLiftoffDate=
Instruments=Close-Up Lunar Surface Photography

Luna 5 (E-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 5. It was designed to continue investigations of a lunar soft landing. The retrorocket system failed, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface at the Sea of Clouds.

Mission Details

In May 1965, Luna 5 became the first Soviet probe to head for the Moon in two years. Between it and the previous Luna 4, there were three launch failures (Luna 1964A on March 21, 1964; Luna 1964B on April 20, 1964; and Zond 1964A on April 10, 1965) and one partial failure (Cosmos 60, launched on March 12, 1965, which reached Earth orbit but failed to leave for the Moon).

Following the mid-course correction on May 10, the spacecraft began spinning around its main axis due to a problem in a flotation gyroscope in the I-100 guidance system unit. A subsequent attempt to fire the main engine failed because of ground control error, and the engine never fired. After loss of control as a result of the gyroscope problem, Luna 5 crashed. Landing coordinates were 31° south latitude and 8° west longitude. It was the second Soviet spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon (following Luna 2 in 1959).

ee also

* List of artificial objects on the Moon

External links

* [http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna.php Zarya - Luna programme chronology]

sequence
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list=Luna programme
next=Luna 6