E-8-5 No.405
Mission typeLunar lander
Sample return
Mission durationFailed to orbit
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeE-8-5
ManufacturerNPO Lavochkin
Launch mass5,600 kilograms (12,300 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date6 February 1970, 04:16:06 (1970-02-06UTC04:16:06Z) UTC
RocketProton-K/D s/n 247-01
Launch siteBaikonur 81/23
 

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]

Launch

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]

References

  1. 1 2 Williams, David R. (6 January 2005). "Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures". NASA NSSDC. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 Wade, Mark. "Luna Ye-8-5". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 25, 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  3. Krebs, Gunter. "Luna E-8-5". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  4. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  5. Wade, Mark. "Proton". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2010.


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