Unnamed Luna (Ye-1/1):
Nation: USSR (1)
Objective(s): lunar impact
Spacecraft: Ye-1 (no. 1)
Spacecraft Mass: c. 360 kg (with upper stage)
Mission Design and Management: OKB-1
Launch Vehicle: 8K72 (no. B1-3)
Launch Date and Time: 23 September 1958 /
09:03:23 UT
Launch Site: NIIP-5 / launch site 1
Scientific Instruments:
1) three-component magnetometer
2) two gas discharge counters
3) piezoelectric detector
4) scintillation counter
5) ion traps
Results: The Soviet government approved a
modest plan for initial exploration of the Moon in March 1958. Engineers conceived of
four initial probes, the Ye-1 (for lunar
impact), Ye-2 (to photograph the far side of
the Moon), Ye-3 (to photograph the far side of
the Moon), and Ye-4 (for lunar impact with a
nuclear explosion).
The Ye-1 was a simple
probe, a pressurized spherical object made
from aluminum-magnesium alloy, approximately
the size of the first Sputnik, that carried
five scientific instruments. The goals of
the mission were to study the gas component
of interplanetary matter (using the proton
traps), meteoric particles and photons in
cosmic radiation (using the piezoelectric
detectors), the magnetic fields of the Moon
and Earth (using the magnetometer), variations
in cosmic ray intensity, and heavy
nuclei in primary cosmic radiation. The
probe (on its upper stage) also carried one
kilogram of natrium to create an artificial
comet on the outbound trajectory that could
be photographed from Earth.
During the
first Ye-1 launch, the booster developed longitudinal
resonant vibrations on the strap-on
boosters of the launch vehicle. The rocket
eventually disintegrated at T+93 seconds,
destroying its payload.
This was the Soviet Union's first attempt to send a spacecraft to the Moon.
