Luna programme
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Luna programme:
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The Luna programme (from the Russian word Луна "Luna" meaning "Moon"), occasionally called Lunik or Lunnik by western media, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation.
Twenty-four spacecraft were formally given the Luna designation, although more were launched. Those that failed to reach orbit were not publicly acknowledged at the time, and not assigned a Luna number. Those that failed in low Earth orbit were usually given Cosmos designations. The estimated cost of the Luna programme was about $4.5 billion.
Luna 1 (January 1959) missed its intended impact with the Moon and became the first spacecraft to fall into orbit around the Sun.
Luna 2 (September 1959) mission successfully hit the Moon's surface, becoming the first man-made object to reach the Moon.
Luna 3 (October 1959) rounded the Moon later that year, and returned the first photographs of its far side, which can never be seen from Earth.
Luna 9 (February 1966) became the first probe to achieve a soft landing on another planetary body. It returned five black and white stereoscopic circular panoramas, which were the first close-up shots of the Lunar surface.
Luna 10 (March 1966) became the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 17 (November 1970) and Luna 21 (January 1973) carried the Lunokhod vehicles, which roamed around on the Moon's terrain.
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