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| Organization: | Soviet Union |
| Major Contractors: | OKB-1 |
| Mission Type: | Planetary Science Lunar landing |
| Satellite of: | Moon |
| Launch: | May 9, 1965 at 07:55:00 UTC |
| Launch Vehicle: | Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6) |
| Mission Highlight: | Lunar impact May 12, 1965, 19:10 UTC at 31° S, - 8° W. |
| Mission Duration: | 3-days |
| Mass: | 1,474 kg |
| NSSDC ID: | 1965-036A |
| Webpage: | NASA NSSDC Master Catalog |
| Orbital elements | |
|---|---|
| Semimajor Axis: | n/a |
| Eccentricity: | n/a |
| Inclination: | n/a |
| Orbital Period: | n/a |
| Apogee: | n/a |
| Perigee: | n/a |
| Orbits: | Lunar impact |
| Instruments | |
| Close-Up Lunar Surface Photography : | Lunar photography |
Luna 5 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. Following the midcourse correction on 10 May, 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).
| Preceded by : Luna 4Luna 4 was the USSR's first successful spacecraft of their "second generation" Luna program. The spacecraft, rather than being sent on a straight trajectory toward the Moon, was placed first in an Earth orbit and then an automatic interplanetary station w |
Luna program | Followed by : Luna 6Luna 6 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 6. Luna 6 was intended to travel to the Moon, but, because a midcourse correction failed, it missed the Moon by 159,612. On this ninth Soviet attempt at a lunar soft-landing, the |
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Luna 05The Luna programme was a series of 24 unmanned space missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. 15 were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration. They also perfor