Luna 6
| Mission type | Lunar lander |
|---|---|
| Operator | Soviet space program |
| COSPAR ID | 1965-044A |
| SATCATno. | 01393 |
| Mission duration | 10 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Ye-6 |
| Manufacturer | OKB-1 |
| Launch mass | 1,442 kilograms (3,179 lb)[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 8 June 1965, 07:41:00UTC[1] |
| Rocket | Molniya-M8K78M |
| Launch site | Baikonur1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | Cosmic radiation measurement ended 18 June 1965[2] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric |
| Lunarflyby(failed landing) | |
| Closest approach | 11 June 1965 |
| Distance | 160,000 kilometres (99,000 mi) |
Luna 6,orE-6 No.7(Ye-6 series) was an uncrewedSovietspacecraft which was intended to perform a landing on theMoonas part of theLuna program.Due to the failure of a mid-course correction manoeuvre,Luna 6failed to land, instead flying past the Moon at a distance of 160,000 kilometres (99,000 mi).
Launch[edit]
Luna 6was launched by aMolniya-Mcarrier rocket flying fromSite 1/5at theBaikonur Cosmodrome.Liftoff occurred at 07:40 UTC on 8 June 1965, with the spacecraft andBlok Lupper stage entering alow Earthparking orbit,before the upper stage propelled the spacecraft into aheliocentric orbitpassing the Moon.
Failure[edit]
TheLuna 6mission proceeded as planned until a scheduled mid-course correction late on 9 June. Although the spacecraft'sS5.5Amain engine ignited on time, it failed to cut off and continued to fire until its propellant supply was exhausted. An investigation later determined that the problem had been due to a command which had been mistakenly sent to the timer that ordered the main engine to shut down.[3]
Despite the spacecraft being unable to land on the Moon, controllers used the spacecraft to simulate a landing; a task which was satisfactorily accomplished.Luna 6flew past the Moon late on 11 June,[1]with a closest approach of 159,612.8 kilometres (99,178.8 mi). Contact was maintained to a distance of 600,000 kilometres (370,000 mi) from Earth.
References[edit]
- ^abcNASA."Luna 6".NASA.Retrieved2 December2016.
- ^Lyubimov, G. P. (11 October 1967)."Measurement of the Intensity of Cosmic Radiation During the Flights of Automatic Interplanetary Stations Zond-1, Zond-2, Zond-3, Luna-5, Luna-6"(PDF).From last graph of Fig. 1.Retrieved25 December2019.
- ^Zak, Anatoly."Russia's Unmanned Missions".Russian Space Web.Retrieved2 December2016.
