Luna E-1 No.3

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = E-1 No.3

| image = RIAN archive 510848 Interplanetary station Luna 1 - blacked.jpg

| image_caption = A replica of an E-1 spacecraft

| mission_type = Lunar impactor

| operator = Soviet space program

| mission_duration = Failed to orbit

| spacecraft_type =

| manufacturer = OKB-1

| dry_mass =

| launch_mass = {{convert|361|kg}}

| power =

| programme = Luna programme

| previous_mission = Luna 1958B

| next_mission = Luna 1

| launch_date = {{start date text|4 December 1958,}}

| launch_rocket = Luna 8K72 {{nowrap|s/n B1-5}}

| launch_site = Baikonur 1/5

| launch_contractor =

}}

Luna E-1 No.3, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1958C,{{cite web |url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/tent_launch.html |title=Tentatively Identified Missions and Launch Failures |publisher=NASA NSSDC|first=David R.|last=Williams|accessdate=30 July 2010|date=6 January 2005}} was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1958. It was a {{convert|361|kg|adj=on}} Luna E-1 spacecraft, the third of four to be launched,{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/luna_e1.htm|title=Luna E-1|last=Krebs|first=Gunter|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|accessdate=26 July 2010}} all of which were involved in launch failures. It was intended to impact the surface of the Moon, and in doing so become the first man-made object to reach its surface.

The spacecraft was intended to release {{convert|1|kg}} of sodium, in order to create a cloud of the metal which could be observed from Earth, allowing the spacecraft to be tracked.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunae1.htm|title=Luna E-1|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|accessdate=26 July 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222181555/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunae1.htm|archivedate=22 December 2010}} Prior to the release of information about its mission, NASA correctly identified that it had been an attempted Lunar impact mission.

Luna E-1 No.3 was launched on 4 December 1958 atop a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket,{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm |title=Soyuz |last=Wade |first=Mark |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica |accessdate=26 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107163113/http://astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm |archivedate=7 January 2010 }} flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|publisher=Jonathan's Space Page|accessdate=26 July 2010}} Modifications to correct the vibration issue on previous launches by installing dampers on the LOX feed lines worked and the booster completed the strap-on burn successfully. However, the launch was another failure as the core stage lost thrust at T+245 seconds. Engine performance fell to 70% and it began deviating from its flight trajectory. The AVD system terminated thrust and the booster fell 4,200 km (2,609 miles) downrange. Investigation found that a gear of the core stage hydrogen peroxide pump was improperly lubricated and failed during flight, causing loss of turbopump performance and engine thrust.