Luna Space Program

The Luna Space Program was a program carried out by the ESA to get a man on the moon. This program was in competition with NASA. Beginning in 1963, scientists worked for many years on it.

Luna 1
In 1965 the Luna 1 probe was sent to the moon. This unmanned probe orbited the moon and took pictures and other information. This probe still orbits the moon.

Luna 2
Luna 2 (1967) was a probe meant to land on the moon, but miscalculations sent it crash-landing on the surface. Pieces of Luna 2 were found by later missions and collected.

Luna 3
Luna 3 (later that year) was able to land an unmanned probe on the moon's surface. Luna 3 took pictures traveled for 300 miles before losing contact with the command center.

Luna 4
On Luna 4, Astronauts Guglielmo Conti and Victor Jankovic became the first Europan men on the moon. They collected rock samples and took pictures. They were only on the moon for 1.5 hours.