Mission Type: Lander
Launch Vehicle: 8K78M (no. T15000-20)
Launch Site: NIIP-5 / launch site 1
Spacecraft Mass: c. 1,420 kg
Spacecraft Instruments: 1) imaging system and 2) radiation detector
References:
Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, by Asif A. Siddiqi
This fourth Soviet attempt to achieve a soft-landing on the Moon failed to reach an intermediate orbit around Earth.
During the boost phase, the launcher's third-stage engine's main liquid oxygen valve failed to
open when the valve rod broke off. As a result, the third-stage engine never reached full thrust and eventually cut off prematurely at T+489 seconds. The spacecraft never reached
Earth orbit.
The Soviets celebrated their space exploration progress in 1964 with a stamp honoring Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (right), one of the father's of modern rocket science.