Tuesday, October 27, 2026

1975-10-16 · 51 years ago

E-8-5M No. 412 — launch

Date in UTC

Luna E-8-5M No.412, also known as Luna Ye-8-5M No.412, and sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1975A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1975. It was a 5,300 kg (11,700 lb) Luna E-8-5M spacecraft, the second of three to be launched. It was intended to perform a soft landing on the Moon, collect a sample of lunar soil, and return it to the Earth. Luna E-8-5M No.412 was launched at 04:04:56 UTC on 16 October 1975 atop a Proton-K 8K78K launch vehicle with a Blok D-1 upper stage, flying from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Blok D stage experienced a failure of the LOX turbopump and so the probe did not reach orbit.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1975A. Original timeline Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_program. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#1975. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Category
Launches and Flight Tests
Mission
E-8-5M No. 412
Organization
Strategic Rocket Forces
Vehicle
Proton-K/D-1
Location
NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan
Country
SU
Launch outcome
failure

Context and qualifications

Launch code: OF. Source references: NK9810-25; NK9810-25. No S4 ignition

Sources and attribution

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