Payload
LUNA 3
DecayedPayloadHEO
Luna 3, or E-2A No.1, was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. The historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon was created from the pictures.
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Launch
- Launch date
- October 4, 1959 at 12:43 AM UTC
- Launch site
- Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
- Launched by
- Vostok-L 8K72 →
- Operator
- Soviet Space Program
- Mission
- Luna-3
- Launch record
- View full launch →
Orbit
- Orbit regime
- HEO
- Apoapsis
- 499,998 km
- Periapsis
- 500 km
- Inclination
- 55°
- Orbital period
- 21563.22 min
Spacecraft
- Operator
- Russia (CIS / former USSR)
- Launch mass
- 276.02 kg
Identity
- COSPAR (Int'l)
- 1959-008A
- NORAD catalog №
- 21
- Object type
- Payload
- Owner / operator
Russia (CIS / former USSR)- Status
- Decayed
- Decay / reentry
- April 20, 1960
End of mission
- Last active / ended
- April 20, 1960
- Time in service
- 199 days
- Fate
- Reentered Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed.
- Final status
- Decayed