Luna E-3 No.1

{{Short description|Soviet space probe (Luna 1960A)}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Luna E-3 No.1

| image =

| image_caption =

| mission_type = Lunar flyby

| operator = Soviet space program

| mission_duration = Failed to orbit

| spacecraft_type = E-3

| manufacturer = OKB-1

| dry_mass =

| launch_mass = {{convert|279|kg}}

| power =

| launch_date = {{start-date|15 April 1960, 15:06:45|timezone=yes}} UTC

| launch_rocket = Luna 8K72 {{nowrap|s/n L1-9}}

| launch_site = Baikonur 1/5

| programme = Luna programme

| previous_mission = Luna 3

| next_mission = Luna 1960B

}}

Luna E-3 No.1, sometimes identified by NASA as Luna 1960A,{{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 1960. It was a {{convert|279|kg|adj=on}} Luna E-3 spacecraft,{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunae3.htm|title=Luna E-3|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|accessdate=26 July 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129213010/http://astronautix.com/craft/lunae3.htm|archivedate=29 November 2010}} the first of two to be launched,{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/luna_e3.htm|title=Luna E-3|last=Krebs|first=Gunter|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|accessdate=26 July 2010}} both of which were lost in launch failures. It was intended to fly around the Moon on a circumlunar trajectory in order to image the surface of the Moon, including the far side. The E-3 spacecraft were similar in design to the E-2A which had been used for the earlier Luna 3 mission. However, they carried higher resolution cameras, and were intended to make closer flybys.