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Mission record

Luna 4

Also known as Lunik 4, Luna4, Ye-6 no.4

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Failed · Failure

Luna 4 was the USSR's first spacecraft of their second generation lunar program, an automatic interplanetary station designed to perform a soft landing on the Moon. A failure of the Yupiter astronavigation system during trans-lunar coast prevented the planned midcourse correction, and the spacecraft missed the Moon by about 8400 km before entering a high equatorial Earth orbit.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Luna 4 launched

    Earth

  2. Flyby

    Luna 4 missed the Moon by about 8400 km

    Moon

  3. Milestone

    Luna 4 transmitted at 183.6 MHz at least until 7 April

    Earth

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Luna 4 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 24, 2026