Luna-15 — launch
Date in UTC
Luna 15 was a robotic space mission of the Soviet Luna programme that was in lunar orbit at the same time as the Apollo 11 spacecraft. On 21 July 1969, while Apollo 11 astronauts finished the first human moonwalk, Luna 15, a robotic Soviet spacecraft in lunar orbit at the time, began its descent to the lunar surface. Launched three days before the Apollo 11 mission, it was the second Soviet attempt to bring lunar soil back to Earth, with the goal of beating the US in achieving the first sample return in the Moon race. The previous mission, designated E-8-5-402, launched on 14 June 1969, did not achieve Earth orbit because the third stage of its launch vehicle failed to ignite.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_15. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#1969. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- Category
- Launches and Flight Tests
- Type
- Orbital launch
- Subjects
- Space transportation
- Mission
- Luna 15
- Organization
- Strategic Rocket Forces
- Vehicle
- Proton-K/D
- Location
- NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan
- Country
- SU
- Outcome
- Successful
Sources and attribution
- Jonathan McDowell — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (opens in a new tab) — Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Adapted into anniversary records. (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Luna 15 (opens in a new tab) — Adapted from Wikipedia contributors; selected sentences retained and edited for length, reference markers and pronunciation glosses. CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Article and edit history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_15 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Timeline of Space Exploration Missions 1957 to 2031 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA — Luna 15 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA NSSDCA — Luna 15 (opens in a new tab)
