Luna 1960B , also known as Luna E-3 No.2 , 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. Shortly after take-off, however, the launcher broke because a booster developed too little thrust, so that the probe never reached space. The launch pad was also severely damaged as a result. The launch of the first model from the Luna E-3 series a day earlier failed due to a failure of the upper stage.
Soviet Union
