Luna Mission
The Luna Program was one of two lunar exploration programs conducted by the Soviet Union. This was a very long-running program, with the first mission flying in 1959 and the last flying in 1976. The Luna missions were designed to collect information about the Moon and its environment, not only for scientific purposes but also to be used in the planning of future lunar missions including manned missions to the Moon. The series included flyby, lunar-orbiting, and soft-landing missions. Selected Luna missions are noted in the following list.
| Mission | Launch Date |
Type of Mission |
Notes | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna 1 | 1/2/59 | Lunar flyby | Passed over the Moon at 5000-6000 kilometers on 1/4/59 | More info |
| Luna 2 | 9/12/59 | Lunar landing | Impacted Moon 9/13/59 at 22:02:04 UT Palus Putredinis, 29.10°N lat., 0.0° long. |
More info |
| Luna 3 | 10/4/59 | Lunar flyby | Photographed the farside of the Moon on 10/7/59 | More info |
| Luna 9 | 1/31/66 | Lunar landing | Landed on Moon 2/3/66 at 18:44:52 UT Oceanus Procellarum, 7.08°N lat., 295.63°E long. |
More info |
| Luna 10 | 3/31/66 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit on 4/3/66 | More info |
| Luna 11 | 8/24/66 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit on 8/28/66 | More info |
| Luna 12 | 10/22/66 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit on 10/25/66 and returned images | More info |
| Luna 13 | 12/21/66 | Lunar landing | Landed on Moon 12/24/66 at 18:01:00 UT Oceanus Procellarum, 18.87°N lat., 297.95°E long. |
More info |
| Luna 14 | 4/7/68 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit on 4/10/68 | More info |
| Luna 15 | 7/13/69 | Lunar lander | Crashed on Moon 7/21/69 at 15:51 UT Mare Crisium,17°N lat., 60°W long. Believed to have been an attempted sample- return mission, similar to Luna 16, 20, and 24 |
More info |
| Luna 16 | 9/12/70 | Lunar sample return | Landed on Moon 9/20/70 at 05:18:00 UT Mare Fecunditatis, 0.68°S lat., 56.30°E long. |
More info |
| Luna 17 | 11/10/70 | Lunar lander | Landed on Moon 11/17/70 at 03:47:00 UT Mare Imbrium, 38.28°N lat., 325.00°E long. Lunar Rover - Lunokhod 1 |
More info |
| Luna 19 | 9/28/71 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit on 10/3/71 and returned images | More info |
| Luna 20 | 2/14/72 | Lunar landing | Landed on Moon 2/21/72 at 19:19:00 UT Mare Fecunditatis, 3.57°N lat., 56.50°E long. Lunar sample return to Earth 2/25/72 |
More info |
| Luna 21 | 1/8/73 | Lunar landing | Landed on Moon 1/15/73 at 23:35:00 UT Mare Serenitatis, 25.51°N lat., 30.38°E long. Lunar Rover - Lunokhod 2 |
More info |
| Luna 22 | 6/2/74 | Lunar orbiter | Entered lunar orbit around 6/3/74 and returned images | More info |
| Luna 24 | 8/14/76 | Lunar sample return | Landed on Moon 8/18/76 at 02:00:00 UT Mare Crisium, 12.25°N lat., 62.20°E long. |
More info |
Although the Luna program experienced many ups and downs and failed to lead to a manned mission to the Moon, it also achieved many “firsts.” Among them were the first flyby of the Moon, the first impact on the Moon, the first photographs of the farside, the first soft landing, the first lunar satellite, the first analysis of lunar soil, the first sample return, and the first lunar rover deployment. These missions also were successful in performing remote sensing and photography of the Moon, operating two rovers on the lunar surface, and returning three sets of lunar samples.
