Luna 6, or E-6 No.7 (Ye-6 series) was an uncrewed Soviet spacecraft which was intended to perform a landing on the Moon as part of the Luna program. Due to the failure of a mid-course correction manoeuvre, Luna 6 failed to land, instead flying past the Moon at a distance of 160,000 kilometres (99,000 mi).
Luna 6 was launched by a Molniya-M carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Liftoff occurred at 07:40 UTC on 8 June 1965, with the spacecraft and Blok L upper stage entering a low Earthparking orbit, before the upper stage propelled the spacecraft into a heliocentric orbit passing the Moon.
Failure
The Luna 6 mission proceeded as planned until a scheduled mid-course correction late on 9 June. Although the spacecraft's S5.5A main 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 6 flew 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
^ abcNASA. "Luna 6". NASA. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
^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. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^Zak, Anatoly. "Russia's Unmanned Missions". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
luna, series, uncrewed, soviet, spacecraft, which, intended, perform, landing, moon, part, luna, program, failure, course, correction, manoeuvre, failed, land, instead, flying, past, moon, distance, kilometres, mission, typelunar, landeroperatorsoviet, unionco. Luna 6 or E 6 No 7 Ye 6 series was an uncrewed Soviet spacecraft which was intended to perform a landing on the Moon as part of the Luna program Due to the failure of a mid course correction manoeuvre Luna 6 failed to land instead flying past the Moon at a distance of 160 000 kilometres 99 000 mi Luna 6Mission typeLunar landerOperatorSoviet UnionCOSPAR ID1965 044ASATCAT no 01393Mission duration10 daysSpacecraft propertiesSpacecraft typeYe 6ManufacturerOKB 1Launch mass1 442 kilograms 3 179 lb 1 Start of missionLaunch date8 June 1965 07 41 00 1965 06 08UTC07 41Z UTC 1 RocketMolniya M 8K78MLaunch siteBaikonur 1 5End of missionLast contactCosmic radiation measurement ended 18 June 1965 2 Orbital parametersReference systemHeliocentricLunar flyby failed landing Closest approach11 June 1965Distance160 000 kilometres 99 000 mi Luna Luna 5Luna 7 Contents 1 Launch 2 Failure 3 References 4 External linksLaunch EditLuna 6 was launched by a Molniya M carrier rocket flying from Site 1 5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Liftoff occurred at 07 40 UTC on 8 June 1965 with the spacecraft and Blok L upper stage entering a low Earth parking orbit before the upper stage propelled the spacecraft into a heliocentric orbit passing the Moon Failure EditThe Luna 6 mission proceeded as planned until a scheduled mid course correction late on 9 June Although the spacecraft s S5 5A main 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 6 flew 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 a b c NASA Luna 6 NASA Retrieved 2 December 2016 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 Retrieved 25 December 2019 Zak Anatoly Russia s Unmanned Missions Russian Space Web Retrieved 2 December 2016 External links Edit Spaceflight portalZarya Luna programme chronology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Luna 6 amp oldid 1166383914, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
