Editing Soviet space program (section)

== Lunar missions ==
[[File:Luna 3 moon.jpg|thumb|197x197px|The first photo of the far side of the moon transmitted by Luna 3]]
[[Luna programme|The "Luna" programme]], achieved the first flyby of the moon by [[Luna 1]] in 1959 (also marking the first time a probe reached the far side of the moon),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Luna 1 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-012A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> the first impact of the moon by [[Luna 2]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Luna 2 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-014A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> and the first photos of the far side of the moon by [[Luna 3]].

As well as garnering scientific information on the moon, Luna 1 was able to detect a strong flow of [[Solar wind|ionized plasma emanating from the Sun]], streaming through interplanetary space. Luna 2 impacted the moon east of [[Mare Imbrium]].<ref name=":2" /> Photography transmitted by Luna 3 showed two dark regions which were named [[Mare Moscoviense]] (Sea of Moscow) and [[Mare Desiderii]] (Sea of Dreams), the latter was found to be composed of the smaller [[Mare Ingenii]] and other dark craters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 3 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-008A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Luna 2 marked the first time a man-made object has contacted a celestial body. Luna 1 discovered the Moon had no magnetic field.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:First Photo from the Surface of the Moon.jpg|thumb|194x194px|First photo from the surface of the Moon transmitted by Luna 9]]
In 1963, the Soviet Union's "2nd Generation" Luna programme was less successful, [[Luna 4]], [[Luna 5]], [[Luna 6]], [[Luna 7]], and [[Luna 8]] were all met with mission failures. However, in 1966 [[Luna 9]] achieved the first soft-landing on the Moon, and successfully transmitted photography from the surface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 9 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-006A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Luna 10]] marked the first man-made object to establish an orbit around the Moon,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 10 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> followed by [[Luna 11]], [[Luna 12]], and [[Luna 14]] which also successfully established orbits. [[Luna 12]] was able to transmit detailed photography of the surface from orbit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 12 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-094A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Luna 10, 12, and [[Luna 14]] conducted [[Gamma ray spectrometry]] of the Moon, among other tests.
[[File:Moon landing map.jpg|thumb|186x186px|The near side of the moon, showing Luna probe landing locations with red triangles]]
The [[Zond program]]me was orchestrated alongside the ''Luna'' programme with [[Zond 1]] and [[Zond 2]] launching in 1964, intended as flyby missions, however both failed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 1 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-016D |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 2 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-078C |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Zond 3]] however was successful, and transmitted high quality photography from the far side of the moon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 3 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-056A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 3 photography |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1965-056A-01 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> 
[[File:Postage stamp of the USSR - a picture of the Earth from Zond-7.jpg|left|thumb|212x212px|Soviet stamp from 1969 showing Earth from Zond 7]]
[[File:The Soviet Union 1970 CPA 3951 stamp (Luna 16 in Flight (1970.09.12)).jpg|left|thumb|224x224px|A Soviet Union stamp from 1970 showing Luna 16]]
In late 1966, [[Luna 13]] became the third spacecraft to make a soft-landing on the Moon, with the American [[Surveyor 1]] having now taken second.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 13 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-116A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

[[Zond 4]], launched in 1968 was intended as a means to test the possibility of a manned mission to the moon, including methods of a stable re-entry to earth from a Lunar trajectory using a heat shield.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-06 |title=50 Years Ago: Zond 4 launched successfully. - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years-ago-zond-4-launched-successfully/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> It did not flyby the moon, but established an elliptical orbit at Lunar distance. Due to issues with the crafts orientation, it was unable to make a soft-landing in the Soviet union and instead was self destructed. Later in the year [[Zond 5]], carrying two [[Russian tortoise]]s became the first man-made object to flyby the moon and return to Earth (as well as the first animal to flyby the moon), splashing down in the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 5 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1968-076A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Zond 6]], [[Zond 7]], and [[Zond 8]] had similar mission profiles, Zond 6  failed to return to earth safely, [[Zond 7]] did however and returned high quality color photography of the earth and the moon from varying distances,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 7 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-067A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Zond 8 successfully returned to earth after a Lunar flyby.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 8 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-088A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> 
[[File:Stromgren Zond 8.jpg|thumb|Lunar crater, taken by Zond 8]]
In 1969, [[Luna 15]] was an intended lunar sample return mission, however resulted in a crash landing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 15 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-058A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> In 1970 however [[Luna 16]] became the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a surface sample, having drilled 35&nbsp;cm into the surface,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 16 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-072A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> to Earth and represented the first lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and the third overall, having followed the [[Apollo 11]] and [[Apollo 12]] crewed missions.

[[Luna 17]], [[Luna 21]] and [[Luna 24]] delivered rovers onto the surface of the moon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 17 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-095D |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Luna 20]] was another successful sample return mission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 20 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1972-007A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Luna 18]] and [[Luna 23]] resulted in crash landings.

In total there were 24 missions in the ''Luna'' Programme, 15 were considered to be successful, including 4 hard landings and 3 soft landings, 6 orbits, and 2 flybys. The programme was continued after the collapse of the Soviet union, when the  [[Roscosmos|Russian federation space agency]] launched [[Luna 25]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-18 |title=50 Years Later, the Soviet Union's Luna Program Might Get a Reboot |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a36984208/soviet-luna-program-history/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}}</ref>