R-7 Semyorka version
R-7 Semyorka Luna (8K72)
The first R-7 variant conceived specifically as a space launcher, with a Blok E third stage for the Luna programme probes. It flew nine times between 1958 and 1960 with three successes, among them the first human-made impact on the Moon and the first pictures of its far side.
- September 23, 1958
- First launch
- 4,000 kg
- LEO capacity
- No
- Reusable
History
The first space-minded R-7
The 8K72 was the first R-7 variant explicitly designed as a carrier rocket, and it introduced features that became standard across the family: thicker tank walls to support a third stage and the Blok E upper-stage architecture itself. Lift-off mass was around 277,000 kg and it could carry 4,000 kg to low Earth orbit.
A troubled career
Of its nine launches from Baikonur pad 1/5, five failed outright and one was partial. The first three were lost to longitudinal «pogo» oscillations that destroyed the rocket at 92 and 104 seconds, and to a loss of engine lubricant that shut down the Blok A core at 245 seconds. The resonance problem set the Korolev and Glushko bureaus openly against each other.
The successes
On 2 January 1959 it launched Luna 1, which missed its target and passed within 5,995 km of the lunar surface before becoming the first human-made object in solar orbit. On 12 September 1959 Luna 2 reached the lunar surface, the first human-made impact on another celestial body. On 4 October 1959 Luna 3 took the first photographs of the Moon's far side. The last flight, on 16 April 1960, failed when a Blok G booster delivered only 75 % thrust.