Luna E-1 No.2
Template:Infobox spaceflight Luna E-1 No.2,[1] sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1958B,[2] was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1958. It was a Template:Convert Luna E-1 spacecraft, the second of four to be launched.[3] It was intended to impact the surface of the Moon, and in doing so become the first man-made object to reach its surface.
The spacecraft was intended to release Template:Convert of sodium, in order to create a cloud of the metal which could be observed from Earth, allowing the spacecraft to be tracked.[4] Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted Lunar impact mission.[2]
Facing continued political pressure to beat the US, Sergei Korolev lost his temper and exclaimed "Do you think only American rockets explode!?" Once again, he knew that the Pioneer 1 probe was set for launch on October 11, but again decided to wait. Just like with the attempt in August, the US Moon shot failed to attain orbit.
Luna E-1 No.2 was launched on 12 October 1958 atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.[1] As the Pogo oscillation issue on Luna E-1 No.1 could not be adequately resolved due to the rushed launch schedules, a couple of stopgap measures were tried including disabling the propellant utilization system at T+85 seconds and throttling the engines down to reduce structural loads on the stack. The booster flew until T+104 seconds when it exploded once again from vibration rupturing the propellant lines.[4]
References
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