Lunar Crashers
Category
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Category of spacecraft.
Subtopics
Luna E-1 Russian lunar impact probe. The first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity and the first to reach the Moon. The spacecraft was sphere-shaped. Five antennae extended from one hemisphere.
Luna E-1A Russian lunar impact probe. First probe to impact lunar surface. Delivered a pennant to the surface of the Moon and conducted research during flight to the Moon.
Ranger 1-2 American lunar impact probe.
Ranger 6-7-8-9 American lunar impact probe. After a series of failures with the more ambitious early Ranger spacecraft, the design was simplified and the lander was deleted. Lunar hard lander built by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA, USA. Launched 1964 - 1965.- MIP Indian lunar impact probe. Moon Impact Probe, released from Chandraayan-1 in lunar orbit. The MIP fired its own deorbit motor and impacted the moon near the Shackleton Crater at the south pole.