The Moon

2.2) Luna Landers

• 08 June 1965 Luna 6 Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Mass: 1,440 kg. Attempted unmanned lunar soft lander. Tass reported that all onboard equipment was functioning normally. Two days into the flight, however, the spacecraft's engine failed to shut down following a midcourse correction. This failure caused Luna 6 to miss its target by 159,612.8 Km.

• 04 September 1965 E-6 Launch Postponement Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78.
The launch was delayed due to malfunction of the RKS system of the Stages 1/2's control system during pre-launch service.

• 04 October 1965 Luna 7 Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Mass: 1,504 kg. Lunar soft landing attempt. 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 the Sea of Storms.

03 December 1965 Luna 8 Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Mass: 1,550 kg. Lunar soft landing attempt failed. Luna 8's objectives were to test a soft lunar landing system and scientific research. Weighing 1,552 kg (3,422 lbs), the spacecraft was following a trajectory close to the calculated one and the equipment was functioning normally. However, the retrofire was late, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface in the Sea of Storms. Tass reported that "the systems were functioning normally at all stages of the landing except the final touchdown." The mission did complete the experimental development of the star-orientation system and ground control of radio equipment, flight trajectory, and other instrumentation.

• 31 January 1966 Luna 9 Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Mass: 1,580 kg.
Soft landed on Moon; photographed surface for 3 days. Landed on Moon 3 February 1966 at 18:44:52 GMT, Latitude 7.08 N, Longitude 295.63 E - Oceanus Procellarum. The Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data to Earth. Seven radio sessions, totaling 8 hours and 5 minutes, were transmitted as were three series of TV pictures. When assembled, the photographs provided a panoramic view of the nearby lunar surface. The pictures included views of nearby rocks and of the horizon 1.4 Km away from the spacecraft.
01 March 1966 Cosmos 111 Spacecraft: Luna E-6S. Mass: 6,540 kg.