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    Luna (rocket)

    Topic: Engineering

     From Handwiki - Reading time: 6 min
    Short description: Model of carrier rocket
    Luna 8K72
    Blok E upper stage, with Luna payload
    FunctionCarrier rocket
    ManufacturerRKK Energia
    Country of originSoviet Union
    Size
    Mass277,000 kg (611,000 lb)
    Stages3
    Capacity
    Payload to LEO4,000 kilograms (8,800 lb)
    Associated rockets
    FamilyR-7
    Launch history
    StatusRetired
    Launch sitesBaikonur: LC-1/5
    Total launches9
    Successes3
    Notable payloadsLuna probes
    First stage (Block B, V, G, D)
    Engines1 RD-107-8D74-1958
    Thrust990.00 kN
    Burn time120 seconds
    FuelKerosene/LOX
    Second stage (Block A)
    Engines1 RD-108-8D75-1958
    Thrust936.500 kN
    Burn time320 seconds
    FuelRP-1/LOX
    Third stage (Block E)
    Engines1 RD-0105
    Thrust49.0 kN
    Burn time316 seconds
    FuelKerosene/LOX

    The Luna 8K72 vehicles were carrier rockets used by the Soviet Union for nine space probe launch attempts in the Luna programme between 23 September 1958 and 16 April 1960.[1] Like many other Soviet launchers of that era, the Luna 8K72 vehicles were derived from the R-7 Semyorka design, part of the R-7 (rocket family), which was also the basis for the Vostok and modern Soyuz rocket.

    Launches

    Luna 8K72 was launched nine times from Baikonur LC-1/5:[2]

    Launch Date Serial No. LS Payload Result
    23.09.1958 B1-3 Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-1 No.1 Failure
    11.10.1958 B1-4 Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-1 No.2 Failure
    04.12.1958 B1-5 Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-1 No.3 Failure
    02.01.1959 B1-6 Ba LC-1/5 Luna 1 Success
    18.06.1959 I1-7 Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-1A No.1 Failure
    12.09.1959 I1-7B Ba LC-1/5 Luna 2 Success
    04.10.1959 I1-8 Ba LC-1/5 Luna 3 Success
    15.04.1960 L1-9 Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-3 No.1 Partial Success
    16.04.1960 L1-9A Ba LC-1/5 Luna E-3 No.2 Failure

    The first flight of a Luna 8K72 (September 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.1 probe, ended 92 seconds after launch when the rocket broke up from longitudinal ("pogo") oscillations, causing the strap-ons to separate from the vehicle, which then crashed downrange.[3]

    The second flight of a Luna 8K72 (October 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.2 probe, ended 104 seconds after launch when the rocket again disintegrated from vibration.

    The third flight of a Luna 8K72 (December 1958), which was to launch the Luna E-1 No.3 probe, ended 245 seconds after launch when the Blok A core stage shut down from loss of engine lubricant.

    The resonant vibration problem suffered by the 8K72 booster was the cause of a major argument between the Korolev and Glushko design bureaus. It was believed that the vibrations developed as a consequence of adding the Blok E upper stage to the R-7, shifting its center of mass.

    The first probe launched by a Luna 8K72 to reach orbit was Luna 1, launched on 2 January 1959, which was intended as a lunar impactor mission.[4] Luna 1 instead passed within 5,995 kilometres (3,725 mi) of the Moon's surface 4 January 1959, and then went into orbit around the Sun between the orbits of Earth and Mars.[5]

    The fifth flight of a Luna 8K72 (18 June 1959), which was to launch the Luna E-1A No.1 probe, ended 153 seconds after launch due to a guidance malfunction of the Blok A core stage, leading to engine shutdown.[6]

    Luna 2 was launched by a Luna 8K72 on 12 September 1959. It was the first spacecraft to impact the lunar surface.

    The final successful launch of a Luna 8K72 took place on 4 October 1959. The Luna 3 spacecraft took the first photographs of the far side of the Moon.

    The eighth flight of a Luna 8K72 (March 1960), which was to launch the Luna E-3 No.1 probe, ended 435 seconds after launch when the Blok E upper stage developed insufficient thrust, causing the Luna probe to reenter the atmosphere and burn up.

    The ninth flight of a Luna 8K72 (April 1960), which was to launch the Luna E-3 No.2 probe, failed when the Blok G strap-on booster developed only 75% thrust at liftoff, breaking away from the launch vehicle, which then disintegrated, the strap-ons flying in random directions and exploding as they impacted the ground. The Blok A core stage then crashed into a salt lake.

    References

    1. ↑ "Soyuz - Version: Luna 8K72". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm. 
    2. ↑ "Vostok-L (8K72)" (in en). https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_det/vostok-l.htm. 
    3. ↑ "Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures". NASA NSSDC. 2005-01-06. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/tent_launch.html. 
    4. ↑ "Soyuz - Soyuz Chronology". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm. 
    5. ↑ "Luna 1 - NSSDC ID: 1959-012A". NASA. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-012A. 
    6. ↑ Reichl, Eugen (2017). Moskaus Mondprogramm. Paul Pietsch Verlage GmbH & Co (1. Auflage ed.). Stuttgart. ISBN 978-3-613-04027-4. OCLC 987572365. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/987572365. 



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