Luna programme

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Luna 1
Luna 1
Luna 3
Luna 3
Luna 9
Luna 9
Luna 16
Luna 16
Luna 17
Luna 17
Luna 24
Luna 24
Location of Luna missions on the Moon
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]. Estimated cost of Luna Program was about $4.5 billion.

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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.

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Luna programme
Luna 1958A | Luna 1958B | Luna 1958C | Luna 1 | Luna 1959A | Luna 2 | Luna 3 | Luna 1960A | Luna 1960B | Sputnik 25 | Luna 1963B | Luna 4 | Luna 1964A | Luna 1964B | Cosmos 60 | Luna 1965A | Luna 5 | Luna 6 | Luna 7 | Luna 8 | Luna 9 | Cosmos 111 | Luna 10 | Luna 1966A | Luna 11 | Luna 12 | Luna 13 | Luna 1968A | Luna 14 | Luna 1969A | Luna 1969B | Luna 1969C | Luna 15 | Cosmos 300 | Cosmos 305 | Luna 1970A | Luna 1970B | Luna 16 | Luna 17 | Luna 18 | Luna 19 | Luna 20 | Luna 21 | Luna 22 | Luna 23 | Luna 1975A | Luna 24
Luna lander bus
 Spaceflight Portal
v • d • e
Robotic exploration of the Moon
Past Programs Pioneer - Luna - Ranger - Zond - Surveyor - Lunar Orbiter - Lunokhod
Past Orbiters Explorer 35 - Hiten - Clementine - Lunar Prospector - SMART-1
Current SELENE - Chang'e 1
Future Chandrayaan I - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - GRAIL - Chandrayaan II - Luna-Glob - LEO - Selene-2 - Google Lunar X Prize
Canceled LUNAR-A - Lunar Observer
See also Moon - Exploration of the Moon - Colonization of the Moon - List of artificial objects on the Moon
v • d • e
USSR space probes
Earth satellites: Sputnik program • Cosmos • Bion • GLONASS • Molniya • Meteor • Zenit
Moon exploration: Luna programme • Zond program • Lunokhod programme
Venus Venera program • Vega program
Mars Mars probe program • Phobos program
Space observatories: Astron (spacecraft) • Orion 1 and Orion 2 Space Observatories • RELIKT-1
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_programme"
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