Mission Details
| Mission Name: Luna 7 |
| Mission Type: Lunar Impact |
| Operator: Soviet Union (Roscosmos) |
| Launching State: Soviet Union/Russia |
| Location: Oceanus Procellarum |
| Latitude: 9 |
| Longitude: -51 |
| Launch Date: 4 October 1965, 07:55 UT |
| Landing Date: 7 October 1965, 22:08 UT |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Luna 7 |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Luna 7 was intended to achieve the first soft landing on the Moon.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-077A
Heritage Consideration
Intended to be the first soft landing on the Moon, the spacecraft’s retrorockets were unable to fire due to a loss of attitude control and the spacecraft made a hard impact on the lunar surface.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Luna 7 | |
| Cospar: 1969-058A | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. | |
| Launch Date: 4 October 1965, 07:55 UT | |
| Landing Date: 27 October 1965, 22:08 UT | |
| Deployment: N/A | |
| End Date: 7 October 1965 | |
| Function: Continue investigations of a lunar soft landing. | |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Luna 7 (E-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 7. The Luna 7 spacecraft was intended to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. However, due to premature retrofire and cutoff of the retrorockets, the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface in Oceanus Procellarum.
Automatic programmed systems then prevented the main engine from firing. As controllers observed helplessly, Luna 7 plummeted to the lunar surface at a very high speed, crashing at 22:08:24 UT on October 7, 1965, west of the Kepler crater, relatively near the actual intended target.
