Luna 1960A , also known as Luna E-3 No.1 , was a Soviet lunar probe and, like Lunik 3 , was supposed to orbit the moon on a free return path and photograph it, including the far side of the moon. Due to the failure of the upper stage of the launcher , the necessary speed could not be achieved. The probe moved about 200,000 km from the earth and then fell back, where it burned in the earth's atmosphere. The launch of the second model from the Luna E 3 series a day later also failed due to a failure of the launcher.
Soviet Union
