Pioneer P-3:
Goals: Pioneer P-3 was intended to orbit the Moon, take photographs and study the interplanetary environment with a variety of sensors. It was the first mission to use an two-stage Atlas rocket that allowed heavier payloads to be hurled into space.
Accomplishments: None. Forty-five seconds after liftoff, the spacecraft's nose faring broke away and the rocket tumbled and exploded. Contact was lost 104 seconds after launch.
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Two of the spacecraft in this series were pulled from planned Venus missions as a result of the Soviet Union's Luna 3 success.
