Ye-8 Lunar Lander Media Gallery

Unmanned lunar soil sample return.

Typical orbit: 183 km x 199 km at 51 degrees inclination. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Main Engine: KTDU-417. Associated Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824.

• 1968 December 30 - Meeting of the VPK Military-Industrial Commission to discuss how to beat the Americans to the lunar landing - Program: Lunar L3, Lunar L1, Luna. Launch Vehicle: N1, Proton 8K82K / 11S824.

  Ustinov called the meeting to order. Mishin was 'sick' again -- Okhapkin represented TsKBEM and gave a summary of the programme to that date:

  • The project had only been authorised on 3 August 1964. It consisted of two parts, circumlunar flights using Chelomei's UR-500K booster and LK-1 spacecraft, and a lunar landing using Korolev's N1 booster and L3 spacecraft.
  • On 25 October 1965 the programme was redirected. Military support was ordered and the decision was made to cancel Chelomei's LK-1 spacecraft and instead use the L1 version of Korolev's Soyuz for the circumlunar flights. This was ordered by the resolution 'On organisation of construction units for support of rocket-space systems for the lunar flyby'. That resolution ordered a manned L1 flight by the end of 1967 or early 1968.
  • The program actually took three years to implement rather than the two planned. Nine launches of he L1 had been made since March 1967, but it had not been possible to man-rate the UR-500K/L1 booster/spacecraft combination due to failures in both the launch vehicle and spacecraft. Flight trials of the N1 booster had not even begun yet.

  Keldysh proposed that further work on the L1 be abandoned, and Proton boosters instead be used to launch the Ye-8-5 lunar soil return robot spacecraft being developed by Babakin. Babakin had been accelerating this programme since the beginning of 1968 with the support of Keldysh, even though it would only return around 100 g of lunar soil, versus the tens of kilograms the Apollo manned flights would return. However it now offered an interesting possibility - he proposed obtaining lunar soil and returning it to earth before an American manned landing. The government's organs of mass communication would say that the Soviet Union's lunar program only consisted of robot probes, emphasising that his was much safer and that Russia would never risk it's citizen's lives for mere political sensation.Additional Details: Meeting of the VPK Military-Industrial Commission to discuss how to beat the Americans to the lunar landing (51167).

• 1968 February 27 - Soviet on plan through 1975 for automated probes to the moon and planets. -

  Keldysh heads a Soviet on plans through 1975 for automated probes and space research of the moon and planets. Barmin attends, his interest being the relation of this work to his lunar base. Kamanin finds the plan not well thought out... Tereshkova sees Kamanin and tells him she cannot handle the stress of both political demands on her time and cosmonaut training. She wants Kamanin's assistance to get her out of political tasks.

• 1969 February 3 - N1/Ye-8 preparations - Program: Lunar L3, Luna. Launch Vehicle: N1.

  Kamanin arrives at Tyuratam at 15:30 aboard an An-24. The State Commission for the first Ye-8 robot lunar rover mission is chaired by Tyulin at Area 31. The spacecraft will make a soft landing on the moon, deploy a mobile lunar rover that can traverse slopes up to 30 degrees. The rover will find a position that is clear of obstacles for the first Soviet manned lunar landing. It will then park there, and provide a landing beacon for the LK manned lander. The spacecraft will have a mass of 1700 kg in lunar orbit. Launch is set for 19-20 February.

• 1969 January 25 - Apollo vs Ye-8-5 - Program: Lunar L3, Luna, Apollo. Flight: Apollo 9. Launch Vehicle: N1.

  America is preparing Apollo 9 for flight, and Kamanin muses that the Soviet reply will be the N1 and Ye-8-5, neither of which is proven or reliable. The Soviet Union would have a better chance of sending a manned L1 on a flight around the moon during the first quarter of 1969. Meanwhile Mishin's bureau has a new L3M lunar lander on the drawing boards. This will land 4 to 5 men on the moon, but require two N1 or seven UR-500K launches to assemble in orbit.

• 1969 January 30 - N1/Ye-8-5 launch preparations - Program: Lunar L3, Luna. Launch Vehicle: N1.

  Mishin agrees with Tyulin that he will fly to Tyuratam on 3 February to supervise launch of the Ye-8 on 18 February and the first N1 on 21 February.

• 1969 January 8 - Plan for Soviet lunar and planetary launches to answer America's Apollo program during 1969 approved. -

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 19-10 'On Work on Research of the Moon, Venus and Mars by Automatic Stations--work on automated lunar and interplanetary spacecraft' was issued. Additional Details: Plan for Soviet lunar and planetary launches to answer America's Apollo program during 1969 approved. (22844).

• 1969 July 13 - Luna 15 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 240 km (140 mi). Apogee: 870 km (540 mi). Inclination: 126.00 deg. Period: 160.00 min.

  Unmanned soil return mission launched coincident with Apollo 11 mission in last ditch attempt to return lunar soil to earth before United States. After completing 86 communications sessions and 52 orbits of the Moon at various inclinations and altitudes, crashed on the moon on 20 July in an attempted landing. Altitude data used in programming inaccurate or guidance system unable to cope with effect of lunar mascons.
  Officially: Testing of on-board systems of the automatic station and further scientific investigation of the moon and circumlunar space. Parameters are for lunar orbit.

• 1969 June 10 - Revised Soviet lunar plans - Program: Lunar L3, Lunar L1, Luna. Launch Vehicle: N1.

  The VPK Military-Industrial Commission issues a decree on the schedule for the rest of 1969. There are to be five launches of Ye-8-5 lunar soil return robots, on 14 June, 13 and 28 July, 25 August, and 25 September. There are to be two launches of Ye-8 Lunokhod robot rovers on 22 October and 21 November. Further manned L1 flights are cancelled. There are no plans made for the L3 since the N1 is not ready.

• 1969 June 14 - Ye-8-5 s/n 402 - Program: Lunar L1, Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. FAILURE: Block D upper stage did not fire and payload did not attain earth orbit,. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb).

  Another attempt to launch a Ye-8-5 to return lunar soil to the earth, 'scooping', the Americans' impending Apollo 11 mission. Yet another UR-500K launch failure. This time the UR-500K booster functioned perfectly, but the Block D upper stage did not fire, and the payload did not even attain earth orbit. Every UR-500K launch is costing the Soviet state 100 million roubles. This failure pretty much ended the chances for the Russians to trump the American moon landing. Tass yesterday began running stories to prepare the masses for the upcoming Apollo 11 triumph. The party line is that the Soviet Union is not about to risks the lives of its cosmonauts on flights to the moon, when automated probes can safely retrieve soil from the moon for study on earth.Additional Details: Ye-8-5 s/n 402 (4980).

• 1969 May 16 - Myth 'we were never in the moon race' disseminated by the Soviet Union - Program: Luna, Apollo, Lunar L3, Lunar L1. Flight: Apollo 11.

  Keldysh first revealed the new 'party line' at a press conference on the semi-successful Venera 5 landing on Venus. When asked about Soviet lunar plans, he revealed that Russia would only use robot probes, that it wouldn't risk men's lives in such an endeavour. At the same time Babakin was hard at work finishing the first Ye-8-5 robot lunar soil return spacecraft, to be launched before Apollo 11.

• 1969 October 22 - Cosmos 305 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. FAILURE: Block D control system failure. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 182 km (113 mi). Apogee: 208 km (129 mi). Inclination: 51.40 deg. Period: 88.40 min.

  Robotic lunar soil return mission. Failed to leave low earth orbit due to Block D stage failure.

• 1969 September 19 - L1 state commission - Program: Lunar L3, Lunar L1, Luna. Launch Vehicle: N1, Proton 8K82K / 11S824.

  VPK Deputy Chairman Tyulin headed a state commission on the L1 programme. Mishin pushed for a manned L1 circumlunar flight in 1970. This meeting was only five days before a Ye-8-5 robot spacecraft was to have returned lunar soil from the earth. The Block D stage failed in earth orbit, and the flight was given the cover name Cosmos 300. This indicated the L1 system still did not have the necessary reliability for manned flight. Furthermore, politically, Brezhnev and the Politburo did not want to see a Khrushchev-originated project like the L1 succeed.

• 1969 September 23 - Two Volga buses transport the cosmonauts and VVS specialists to Area 31. - Program: Luna. Flight: Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7, Soyuz 8. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824.

  To ensure the buses do not exceed 60 km/hour checkpoints are manned along the roads. The readiness review is conducted form 10:00 to 13:00. The crews, and spacecraft are ready. Mishin is away 'sick' again. General Pushkin and Beregovoi are at Area 81 to view the Ye-8-5 launch. Kamanin likes Chelomei's UR-500K rocket. He blames its series of failures on its engines and Block D upper stage, not on the fundamental booster design. If it had been more successful, the Russians would have beaten the Americans in a lunar flyby. The launch proceeds as planned at 15:00, but the Block D fails to restart in parking orbit, and is given the cover name 'Cosmos 300'.

• 1969 September 23 - Cosmos 300 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. FAILURE: Block D lost LOX due to valve defect. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 184 km (114 mi). Apogee: 189 km (117 mi). Inclination: 51.50 deg. Period: 88.20 min.

  Robotic lunar soil return mission. Failed to leave low earth orbit due to Block D stage failure.

• 1969 September 24 - Ye-8-5 failure analysis - Program: Luna. Flight: Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7, Soyuz 8. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824.

  The cause of the Ye-8-5 failure is found to be a valve that was stuck open after the first stage burn, resulting in the oxidiser boiling away in the vacuum of space. Tyulin inquires about the possibility of commanding the Ye-8-5 to conduct a series of manoeuvres and testing re-entry of the soil return capsule in the earth's atmosphere. An interesting concept, but the engineers have not planned for such an eventuality.

  NII-2 MO, represented by Lt General Korolev and Chief Designer Savin present plans for their Svinets experiment. It will observe ICBM rocket plumes from space in order to aid design of anti-ballistic missile systems. They had asked Smirnov to conduct a solid propellant rocket launch in order to test the device properly, but he could only schedule a liquid propellant rocket launch. Kamanin had wanted this experiment to be conducted aboard Voskhod 3, but Smirnov has cancelled that mission as well - delaying Soviet ABM development, in Kamanin's view.

• 1969 September 5 - State Commission meets on the Luna 15 failure investigation - Program: Luna.

  It is felt the problems are understood and go-ahead is given for the next lunar soil return robot launch attempt on 23 September. Kamanin considers this very unlikely to be successful -- all of the plans for automated spacecraft and their booster rockets have not been realised to date.

• 1970 February 6 - Ye-8-5 s/n 405 - failure of vehicle on launch - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. FAILURE: Failure of vehicle on launch. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb).

  Robotic lunar soil return mission.

• 1970 September 12 - Luna 16 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 110 km (60 mi). Apogee: 110 km (60 mi). Inclination: 70.00 deg. Period: 119.00 min.

  Lunar Sample Return. Landed on Moon 20 September 1970 at 05:18:00 GMT, Latitude 0.68 S, Longitude 56.30 E - Mare Fecunditatis. Luna 16 was launched toward the Moon from a preliminary earth orbit and entered a lunar orbit on September 17, 1970. On September 20, the spacecraft soft landed on the lunar surface as planned. The spacecraft was equipped with an extendable arm with a drilling rig for the collection of a lunar soil sample. After 26 hours and 25 minutes on the lunar surface, the ascent stage, with a hermetically sealed soil sample container, left the lunar surface carrying 100 grams of collected material. It landed in the Soviet Union on September 24, 1970. The lower stage of Luna 16 remained on the lunar surface and continued transmission of lunar temperature and radiation data. Parameters are for lunar orbit.

• 1970 September 18 - Luna 16 - Program: Luna.

  Luna 16 is underway. This is the latest attempt to obtain lunar soil Five previous launches failed, four due to UR-500K booster failures. Luna 15 almost made it but crashed on the moon.

• 1970 September 20 - Luna 16 lands on moon. - Program: Luna.

  Luna 16 first placed itself into a 106 x 15 km lunar orbit, inclination 71 degrees. After the trajectory was measured and calculations made on earth, it was instructed to make its Phase 1 descent using a timed burn. Phase 2 began at 600 m altitude. From this point the new-design braking rocket was controlled automatically according to height and velocity as measured by radar. At 220 m altitude the main engine shut down, and small braking rockets fired. These were shut down just 2 m above the surface. At 08:18 Luna 16 successfully made a soft landing on the moon. Getting there required 68 communications sessions over nine days of flight. At 10:00 the drill obtains the soil sample and inserts it into the return capsule.

• 1970 September 21 - Luna 16 ascent stage heads for earth. - Program: Luna.

  At 10:43 the Luna 16 ascent stage fires, thrusting the return capsule with the lunar soil toward the earth. It will land somewhere on Soviet territory within a 1500 km radius of Dzhezkazgan. The 25 cm diameter capsule is equipped with a 10 square meter parachute. It was thought that it would take 10 to 15 launches to perfect this system, but instead it has succeeded on the sixth attempt.

• 1970 September 24 - Luna 16 returns lunar soil to earth. - Program: Luna.

  Luna 16 lands only 30 km from its aim point, 80 km southeast of Dzhezkazgan. There was ideal weather in the recovery area, the radio beacon worked well, and a helicopter picked up the capsule only a few minutes after landing.

• 1971 September 2 - Luna 18 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 100 km (60 mi). Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg. Period: 119.00 min.

  Attempted lunar soil return mission; crashed while attempting to soft land at Latitude 3.57 N, Longitude 50.50 E - Mare Fecunditatis. Luna 18 used a new method of navigation in lunar orbit and for landing. The spacecraft's designer, Babakhin, had died at age 56 only the month before. Luna 18 successfully reached earth parking orbit before being put on a translunar trajectory. On September 7, 1971, it entered lunar orbit. The spacecraft completed 85 communications sessions and 54 lunar orbits before it was sent towards the lunar surface by use of braking rockets. It impacted the Moon on September 11, 1971, in a rugged mountainous terrain. Signals ceased at the moment of impact. Parameters are for lunar orbit.

• 1972 February 14 - Luna 20 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. Mass: 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). Perigee: 100 km (60 mi). Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 118.00 min.

  Soft landed on Moon; returned soil samples to Earth. Landed on Moon 21 February 1972 at 19:19:00 GMT, Latitude 3.57 N, Longitude 56.50 E - Mare Fecunditatis. Luna 20 was placed in an intermediate earth parking orbit and from this orbit was sent towards the Moon. It entered lunar orbit on February 18, 1972. On 21 February 1972, Luna 20 soft landed on the Moon in a mountainous area known as the Apollonius highlands, 120 km from where Luna 18 had crashed. While on the lunar surface, the panoramic television system was operated. Lunar samples were obtained by means of an extendable drilling apparatus. The ascent stage of Luna 20 was launched from the lunar surface on 22 February 1972 carrying 30 grams of collected lunar samples in a sealed capsule. It landed in the Soviet Union on 25 February 1972. The lunar samples were recovered the following day.

• 1974 October 28 - Luna 23 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. Mass: 5,300 kg (11,600 lb). Perigee: 17 km (10 mi). Apogee: 105 km (65 mi).

  Failed lunar soil return mission. After successfully entering earth orbit, flying to the moon, entering lunar orbit, and descending toward the surface, the spacecraft was damaged during landing in Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises). The sample collecting apparatus could not operate and no samples were returned. The lander continued transmissions for three days after landing. In 1976, Luna 24 landed several hundred meters away and successfully returned samples. Parameters are for lunar orbit.

• 1975 October 16 - Ye-8-5M s/n 412 - Block D stage failed. - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824. FAILURE: Block D stage failed. Mass: 5,300 kg (11,600 lb).

  Attempted robotic lunar soil return mission. Block D stage failed.

• 1976 August 9 - Luna 24 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S824M. Mass: 5,306 kg (11,697 lb). Perigee: 115 km (71 mi). Apogee: 115 km (71 mi). Inclination: 120.00 deg. Period: 119.00 min.

  Lunar Sample Return. Landed on Moon 18 Aug 1976 at 02:00:00 GMT, Latitude 12.25 N, Longitude 62.20 E - Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis). The last of the Luna series of spacecraft, Luna 24 was the third Soviet mission to retrieve lunar ground samples (the first two were returned by Luna 16 and 20). The mission successfully returned 170 grams of lunar samples to the Earth on 22 August 1976.

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• Kaesmann, Ferdinand, et. al., Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, "Proton - Development of A Russian Launch Vehicle", 1998, Volume 51, page 3.

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.

• Varfolomyev, Timothy, Spaceflight, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - Part 5", 1998, Volume 40, page 85. 1: Sp 95/37-260; Sp 96/38-31 (8K71 launches); 2: Sp 96/38-48; 3: Sp 96/38-206; Sp 96/38-317 (designatons); 4: Sp 98/40-28; 5:Sp 98/40-85

• National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. Accessed at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html.

• Chertok, Boris Yevseyevich, Raketi i lyudi, Mashinostroenie, Moscow, 1994-1999.. ISBN: 5217024976. Russian language autobiography in four volumes of one of Korolev's chief assistants. NASA is in the process of translating the work - the pdf is for the first volume only, up to WW2. Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050010181_2005010059.pdf. -right click to download pdfs! More at amazon.com...

• Kamanin, N P, Skritiy kosmos, Infortext, Moscow, 1995. The diary of the Commander of the Soviet Cosmonaut Team in the 1960's - a source of great insights into the space program. Four volumes issued to date.

• Melnik, T G, Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Siliy, Nauka, Moscow, 1997.. Two-volume official history of the (now defunct) Russin space forces.

• Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003. ISBN: 0813026288. The definitive history of the Soviet manned space program in the 1960's to the early 1970's. Originally published as the the latter part of 'Challenge to Apollo' by NASA in 2000 as NASA SP-2000-4408. More at amazon.com...

• Vladimirov, A, Novosti kosmonavtiki, "Tablitsa zapuskov RN 'Proton' i 'Proton K'", 1998, Issue 10, page 25.

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.