Luna 4

Launch data: Designation 00566 / 63008B Launch date 02 Apr 1963 - 08:16:37 UT Launch site B, LC1 Launch vehicle Molniya 8K78L Satellite type E-6 #4 Mission highlight Lunar flyby on April 5, 1963 - 13:25 UT Maximum distance from Earth 700.000 km All-burnt velocity 10,94 km/sec Baryocentric orbit on Apr 1963 Perigee / Apogee  89250 / 694000 km Eccentricity  0.760 Inclination  65° Period  ~28.365 days Heliocentric orbit

Specifications: Prime contractor  OKB-1 Platform   Mass at launch 1422 kg Dimension  2.5 long? - 1.0 dia? Basic shape  Cylinder Solar array   Propulsion  KTDU-5A (S5.5) Life time Indefinite

Luna 4 lander

Mission details:

• Luna 4 (E-6 series) was the USSR's first successful spacecraft of their "second generation" Luna program. The spacecraft, rather than being sent on a straight trajectory toward the Moon, was placed first in a low Earth orbit (167 to 182 km altitude) and then the rocket stage reignited to send it on a curving path towards the Moon.
• The departure velocity was 39445 kph, and the rocket was tracked optically to 140000 km be a 2.6 m telescope in the Crimea. The stage and probe weighed 1422 kg.
• Luna 4, the second attempt of this program, achieved the desired trajectory but a failure to make a required midcourse correction resulted in it missing the Moon by 8336.2 km at 13:25 UT on April 5, 1963. It then entered a barycentric 90,000 × 700,000 km Earth orbit, then afterwards passed into solar orbit.
• The spacecraft transmitted at 183.6 MHz and contact was lost on 6th April after just 3 1/2 days.