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Mission record

Luna 18

Also known as Lunik 18, Automatic Station Luna, Luna18

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Failed · Failure

A Soviet lunar sample return attempt lost when communications ceased at the moment of landing.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Proton Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Lander, Sample return

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Luna 18 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome

  2. Milestone

    Luna 18 made its first reported mid-course correction

  3. Milestone

    Luna 18 made its second reported mid-course correction

  4. Orbit insertion

    Luna 18 entered lunar orbit, the firing sequence stopping 15 seconds early

    Moon

  5. Impact

    Signals ceased, assumed to be the moment of impact near Mare Fecunditatis

    The page gives 07:47:16.5 UT. Recorded at minute precision because the page qualifies the moment as assumed rather than observed.

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Luna 18 · Lander

    Destinations: Moon

    • Luna 18 ascent stage · Spacecraft

      Destinations: Moon

      • Luna 18 sample return capsule · Return capsule

        Destinations: Earth

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

Known dates and encounters do not uniquely determine a flight path. This mission’s sourced timeline is available above; no verified trajectory is currently published here.

What is needed to reconstruct this path?
  • A frame-qualified position and vector velocity at an epoch, or equivalent complete orbital elements.
  • Approach/departure directions and burn vectors between the reported encounters; body names and encounter distances alone are insufficient.
  • Independent descent/return states and a source-defined body-fixed landing location; a landing date alone does not define either.
  • Separate state histories and release epochs for the listed vehicles; a parent mission trajectory cannot be assigned to every component.
  • Finer event-time constraints where required by an orbital reconstruction; the stored day/month/year precision is retained.
  • The actual failed-flight state history. Intended destinations are not evidence that the spacecraft reached them.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 27, 2026