Mission type | Lunar lander Sample return |
---|---|
Operator | Soviet space program |
Mission duration | Failed to orbit |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | E-8-5 |
Manufacturer | NPO Lavochkin |
Launch mass | 5,600 kilograms (12,300 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 6 February 1970, 04:16:06 (1970-02-06UTC04:16:06Z) UTC |
Rocket | Proton-K/D s/n 247-01 |
Launch site | Baikonur 81/23 |
Luna 16 →
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Luna E-8-5 No.405, also known as Luna Ye-8-5 No.405, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1970A,[1] was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1970. It was a 5,600-kilogram (12,300 lb) Luna E-8-5 spacecraft, the fifth of eight to be launched.[2][3] It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, collect a sample of lunar soil, and return it to the Earth.[2]
Luna E-8-5 No.405 was launched at 04:16:06 UTC on 6 February 1970 atop a Proton-K 8K78K carrier rocket with a Blok-D upper stage, flying from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.[4] A defective pressure sensor caused the first stage to shut down 128 seconds after launch. The booster crashed downrange.[5] Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted sample return mission.[1]
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