Luna 5
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| Organization: | Soviet Union |
| Major contractors: | OKB-1 |
| Mission type: | Planetary Science Lunar landing |
| Launch: | May 9, 1965 at 07:55:00 UTC |
| Launch vehicle: | Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6) |
| Mission highlight: | Lunar impact (see below) |
| Mission duration: | 3 days |
| Mass: | 1,474 kg |
| NSSDC ID: | 1965-036A |
| Webpage: | NASA NSSDC Master Catalog |
| Orbital elements | |
|---|---|
| Satellite of: | Moon |
| Semimajor axis: | n/a |
| Eccentricity: | n/a |
| Inclination: | n/a |
| Orbital period: | n/a |
| Apoastron: | n/a |
| Periastron: | n/a |
| Orbits: | none |
| Lunar Landing: | Lunar impact May 12, 1965, 19:10 UTC |
| Landing coordinates: |
31° S, - 8° W |
| Lunar liftoff: | n/a |
| Instruments | |
| Close-Up Lunar Surface Photography | |
Luna 5 (E-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 5. It was designed to continue investigations of a lunar soft landing. The retrorocket system failed, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface at the Sea of Clouds.
In May 1965, Luna 5 became the first Soviet probe to head for the Moon in two years. Between it and the previous Luna 4, there were three launch failures (Luna 1964A on March 21, 1964; Luna 1964B on April 20, 1964; and Zond 1964A on April 10, 1965) and one partial failure (Cosmos 60, launched on March 12, 1965, which reached Earth orbit but failed to leave for the Moon).
Following the midcourse correction on May 10, the spacecraft began spinning around its main axis due to a problem in a flotation gyroscope in the I-100 guidance system unit. A subsequent attempt to fire the main engine failed because of ground control error, and the engine never fired. After loss of control as a result of the gyroscope problem, Luna 5 crashed. Landing coordinates were 31° south latitude and 8° west longitude. It was the second Soviet spacecraft to "land" on the Moon (following Luna 2 in 1959).
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Luna 1965A |
Luna programme | Succeeded by Luna 6 |
| Luna programme |
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| 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 | ||||
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