Lost in Space: The 10 Most Infamous Moon Mission Failures Between 1958 – 2023
1. Mission Orbiter
Mission: Pioneer 0 (Able I) [3]
Space Craft: Pioneer 0
Launch Date: 17th August 1958
Carrier Rocket: Thor DM-18 Able I [3]
Operator: USAF
Result: Launch Failure
Information about Mision Orbiter
On its first attempted launch Beyond Earth, it failed to orbit due to a turbopump gearbox, resulting in a first-stage explosion. reached an apogee of 16 kilometers (10 mi).
2. Mission Impactor
Mission: Luna E-1 No.1
Space Craft: Luna E-1 No.1
Launch Date: 18th September 1958
Carrier Rocket: Luna
Operator: OKB-1
Result: Launch Failure
Information about Mision Impactor
Failed to orbit rocket disintegrated due to excessive vibration.
3. Mission Orbiter
Mission: Pioneer P-3 Able IVB
Space Craft: Pioneer P-3
Launch Date: 26 November 1959
Carrier Rocket: Atlas-D Able
Operator: NASA
Result: Launch Failure
Information about Mision Orbiter
Failed to orbit, Payload fairing disintegrated due to design fault.
4. Mission Lander
Mission: Luna 4 9 (E-6 No.4)
Space Craft: Luna 4
Launch Date: 2 April 1963
Carrier Rocket: Molniya-L
Operator: OKB-1
Result: Spacecraft Failure
Information about Mision Lander
Failed to perform mid-course correction and remained in high earth orbit until given escape velocity by orbital perturbation.
5. Mission Lander
Mission: Surveyor 2
Space Craft: Surveyor 3
Launch Date: 20 September 1966
Carrier Rocket: Atlas LV-3C Centaur-D
Operator: NASA
Result: Spacecraft Failure
Also Read: Russia’s Moon Landing Missions: A History of Triumphs and Failures
Information about Mision Lander
One Thruster failed to ignite during a mid-course correction maneuver, resulting in loss of control and impacting the moon at 0.3:18 UTC on September 1966.
6. Mission Lander
Mission: Beresheet
Space Craft: Beresheet
Launch Date: 20 February 2019
Carrier Rocket: Falcon 9
Operator: SpaceIL
Result: Spacecraft Failure
Information about Mision Lander
First Israeli and first privately funded lunar lander mission. Technology demonstration Instrumentation included a magnetometer and laster retroreflector Spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface after the main engine failed during descent from the lunar orbit phase The impact made Israel the 7th country to reach the surface of the moon.
7. Mission Orbiter, Lander, Rover
Mission: Chandrayaan-2
Space Craft: Vikram, Pragyan, Chandrayaan-2
Launch Date: 22 July 2019
Carrier Rocket: LVM3 M1
Operator: ISRO
Result: Lander and Rover are Spacecraft Failure
Information about Mision Orbiter, Lander, Rover
Entered orbit on 20 August 2019 Lander separated from the orbiter but crashed during a landing attempt on 6 September 2019 attributed to a software glitch Both lander and rover were lost Orbiter remained operational.
8. Mission Impactor
Mission: OMOTENASHI
Space Craft: OMOTENASHI
Launch Date: 16th November 2022
Carrier Rocket: SLS Block 1
Operator: JAXA
Result: Spacecraft Failure
Information about Mision Impacter
It was a lunar surface probe attempting to semi-hard land using solid rocket motors. The carrier and the solid motor were to impact. Communication failure occurred and the probe missed and flew by the moon.
9. Mission Rover
Mission: Emirates Lunar Mission
Space Craft: Rashid
Launch Date: 11th December 2022
Carrier Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Operator: UAESA/MBRSC
Result: Spacecraft Failure
Information about Mision Rover
Lunar rover demonstration Launched aboard ispace’s Hakuto-R lander lost with the Hakuto-R. The impact made the United Arab Emirates the 9th country to reach the surface of the moon.
10. Mission Lander
Mission: Lunar 25
Space Craft: Lunar 25
Launch Date: 10 August 2023
Carrier Rocket: Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat
Operator: Roscosmos
Result: Spacecraft failure
Information about Mision Lander
Launched on 10 August 2023, Orbital insertion on 16th August 2023 failed orbital maneuver on 19th August 2023 setting the spacecraft on a crash course with the moon’s surface Loss of communication was confirmed by Roscosmos on August 20, 2023.
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