Luna E-1 No.3

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Luna E-1 No.3, sometimes called Luna 1958C by NASA, was a Soviet lunar probe designed to crash into the Moon and release 1 kilogram of sodium to create a visible cloud that could be tracked from Earth. It weighed 361 kilograms and was the third of four Luna E-1 spacecraft. It launched on 4 December 1958 from Baikonur on a Luna 8K72 rocket. After fixes to vibration problems on previous launches, the initial burn went ahead, but the core stage lost thrust about 245 seconds after liftoff. Engine power dropped to 70%, and the rocket started to veer off course. The automatic system shut down the engine and the booster fell about 4,200 kilometers downrange. An investigation found a gear in the core stage’s hydrogen peroxide pump was not lubricated properly, causing the turbopump to fail and thrust to be lost.