Luna E-1 #3

Launch data: Designation F00052 / 58F20 Launch date 04 Dec 1958 - 17:18:44 UT Launch site Baikonur, LC1 Launch vehicle Vostok-L (8K72L - n°.B1-5) Satellite type Ye-1 #3 Mission Lunar impact Decay  04 Dec 1958

Specifications:

Description:

• three-component magnetometer
• two gas-discharge counters
• piezoelectric detector
• scintillation counter
• ion traps

Mission details:

• 04 Dec 1958: Ye-1-3 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket on a mission to hit the Moon by way of direct ascent trajectory.
• The third Soviet Moon rocket performed somewhat better than its two predecessors. This time the R7 first stage worked as planned.
• Thwarted by a poor seal on the lubricant tank feding the gearbox of the hydrogen peroxide pump on the core stage of the rocket.
• Once in space the low pressure sucked out the lubricant and the gear box failed. First core stage thrust fell by 70% at 245 sec into flight, then stopped completely, well before the planned 330 sec burn time. The rocket fell down-range in Siberia.
• Later investigation showed that a pressurized seal cooling in the hydrogen peroxide pump of the main engine had lost integrity in vacuum conditions. The malfunction caused the main turbine to cease working and thus led to engine failure.