Spacecraft

LUNAR SPACECRAFT

Russian lunar spacecraft can be divided into families according to their evolution from the very first simple flyby and impactor spacecraft in 1958-1960, exemplified by Luna 1 to 3, to the first modular designs built for soft-landing culminating with Luna 9 and 13, to the final series of complex sample return and lunar rover missions beginning with Luna 15 and continuing through to Luna 24. After the first success at soft-landing, some of these spacecraft were modified to carry lunar orbital payloads, in particular to perform tasks in support of an eventual manned lunar landing. These modifications were easily and quickly accomplished because of the modular design. The final series were essentially large soft-landcrs with interchangeable payloads. Although they were complex, they achieved the first robotic sample return missions and first lunar rovers in addition to a pair of orbiters.

Luna Ye-1 series, І958-1959

in the summer of 1958, the Americans and the Russians were racing to launch the first spacecraft to the Moon as a major signal of strength in rocket technology. The spacecraft were small and lightly instrumented and were flown opportunistically on what were mainly test flights of military rockets. The goals were more technological and political than scientific.

The Americans tried eight times to reach the Moon without success in 1958 1960. Only one spacecraft, Pioneer 4, was launched successfully to Earth escape velocity, but it missed the Moon by a wide margin.

To counter the American lunar campaign, the Soviet Union built the Ye-1 lunar impactor spacecraft for launch on a new’ three-stage Luna rocket derived from the R-7 that launched Sputnik. The Yc-1 wras a very simple spherical payload similar to Sputnik, spin-stabilized, with several protruding antennas. Six such spacecraft w’crc launched during the 12 months between September 1958 and 1959. All but two were

W. T. Huntress and M. Y. Marov, Soviet Robots in the Solar System: Mission Technologies and Discoveries, Springer Praxis Books 1, DOl 10.1007/978-1-4419-7898-1 5,

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lost to launch vehicle mishaps, but owing to the Soviet way of not naming a mission until it was successfully underway, these were Luna 1 and Luna 2. Although Luna 1 missed the Moon on January 4, 1959, it was the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity – two months before Pioneer 4. The final spacecraft to be launched in this series, Luna 2, became the first spacecraft to impact the Moon on September 14, 1959. Tn effect, the Soviets had kept launching until their goal was achieved, and then they moved on.