Luna 9
Author(s): DaveBowman2001 Jack Higgins tashtego
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Luna 9 was a Soviet space probe that became the first spacecraft to successfully land intact on the Moon on 3 February 1966. Touching at Planitia Descensus within Oceanus Procellarum, it transmitted data back to Earth until its batteries were depleted 3 days after landing, revealing that the ground on the lunar surface can support the weight of any lander visiting it.
Luna 9's image of its landing site, Planitia Descensus, the first photo ever taken from the surface of an extraterrestrial body.
| Luna Program (1959–Present) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | Landing Site/Date |
Start | End | ||
| Sputnik 25 | – | 1963-Jan-4 | 1963-Jan-11 | ||
| Launch failure. Stranded in LEO | |||||
| (E-6 No. 3) | – | 1963-Feb-3 | |||
| Launch failure. Did not reach orbit | |||||
| Luna 4 | – | 1963-Apr-2 | 1963-Apr-15 | ||
| Guidance failure caused the spacecraft to miss the Moon by 8,400 km on 1963-Apr-5. Presumed to be in heliocentric orbit |
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| Sputnik 27 | – | 1964-Mar-21 | |||
| Launch failure. Did not reach orbit | |||||
| (E-6 No. 5) | – | 1964-Apr-20 | |||
| Launch failure. Did not reach orbit | |||||
| Cosmos 60 | – | 1965-Mar-12 | 1965-Mar-17 | ||
| Launch failure. Stranded in LEO | |||||
| (E-6 No. 8) | – | 1965-April-10 | |||
| Launch failure. Did not reach orbit | |||||
| Luna 5 | Copernicus Crater (8°N 23°W) 1965-May-12 | 1965-May-9 | 1965-May-12 | ||
| Crashed on the lunar surface due to propulsion failure. Second Soviet spacecraft to reach the lunar surface after Luna 2 |
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| Luna 6 | – | 1965-Jun-8 | 1965-Jun-18 | ||
| Upper stage failure caused the spacecraft to miss the Moon by 160,000 km on 1965-Jun-11. Demonstrated landing simulations instead |
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| Luna 7 | Oceanus Procellarum (9.8°N 47.8°W) 1965-Dec-6 | 1965-Dec-3 | 1965-Dec-6 | ||
| Crashed on the lunar surface due to guidance failure | |||||
| Luna 8 | Planitia Descensus (9.1°N 63.3°W) 1965-Dec-6 | 1965-Dec-3 | 1965-Dec-6 | ||
| Crashed on the lunar surface due to multiple spacecraft/propulsion failures | |||||
| Luna 9 | Planitia Descensus (7.13°N 64.37°W) 1966-Feb-3 | 1966-Jan-31 | 1969-Feb-6 | ||
| First spacecraft to land softly on the Moon. Landed near the crash site of Luna 8 |
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