Luna program: Soviet robotic lunar exploration (1958–1976)

1. First Luna attempt ends in launch failure

   Sep 23, 1958Labels: Luna program, Soviet Union

   • Luna1
   • Britannica

2. Luna 1 reaches Moon’s vicinity

   Jan 2, 1959Labels: Luna 1, heliocentric trajectory

   • Luna 1
   • NASA History

3. Luna 2 becomes first Moon impactor

   Sep 14, 1959Labels: Luna 2, Moon impact

   • NASA
   • Luna 2

4. Luna 3 photographs the Moon’s far side

   Oct 7, 1959Labels: Luna 3, far side

   • NASA
   • Guinness

5. Luna 8 crashes during soft-landing attempt

   Dec 6, 1965Labels: Luna 8, soft-landing attempt

   • Luna 8
   • ForAllMoonkind

6. Luna 9 achieves first soft landing

   Feb 3, 1966Labels: Luna 9, soft landing

   • History com
   • Astronomy

7. Luna 10 becomes first lunar orbiter

   Mar 31, 1966Labels: Luna 10, lunar orbiter

   • Luna 10
   • NextSpaceflight

8. Luna 11 begins extended lunar-orbit studies

   Aug 24, 1966Labels: Luna 11, lunar orbit

   • Luna 11

9. Luna 13 makes second successful soft landing

   Dec 24, 1966Labels: Luna 13, soft landing

   • Luna 13
   • NextSpaceflight

10. Luna 14 supports lunar-navigation research

    Apr 7, 1968Labels: Luna 14, navigation research

    • Luna 14

11. Luna 15 sample-return attempt fails

    Jul 21, 1969Labels: Luna 15, sample-return attempt

    • Luna 15

12. Luna 16 completes first robotic sample return

    Sep 24, 1970Labels: Luna 16, sample return

    • NASA Photojournal
    • Astronomy

13. Luna 17 lands and deploys Lunokhod 1 rover

    Nov 17, 1970Labels: Luna 17, Lunokhod 1

    • Luna 17
    • Space com

14. Luna 18 crashes during sample-return landing

    Sep 11, 1971Labels: Luna 18, sample-return attempt

    • Luna 18

15. Luna 20 returns highland lunar samples

    Feb 24, 1972Labels: Luna 20, highlands

    • ApolloChron
    • NASA Photojournal

16. Luna 21 lands and deploys Lunokhod 2 rover

    Jan 15, 1973Labels: Luna 21, Lunokhod 2

    • Luna 21
    • NASA Photojournal

17. Luna 23 lands but cannot complete drilling

    Nov 6, 1974Labels: Luna 23, drilling failure

    • Luna 23

18. Luna 24 returns final Soviet lunar samples

    Aug 22, 1976Labels: Luna 24, final mission

    • Luna 24
    • AP News