Between 1959 and 1976, the Soviet Union carried out a series of robotic spacecraft missions to the Moon known as the Luna Programme. Some of them were orbiters- designed to orbit the Moon- while others were landers-designed to land on the surface of the Moon.
Out of the twenty-four spacecraft that were sent to the Moon, fifteen were successful. They performed several experiments to study various aspects of the Moon like chemical make-up, gravity, radiation and temperature.
The failed missions were not given Luna numbers initially. The programme is credited with many notable ‘lunar firsts’ like the first image of the lunar far side, and the first lunar orbiter.
Picture Credit : Google
