NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Failure

Pioneer P-30

Launch Time
Sun Sep 25, 1960 15:13 UTC

Second-stage propellant feed malfunction caused a failure.

Rocket

Atlas-D Able
Image Credit: USAF or NASA
General Dynamics
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 1,880 kN
Stages: 3
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 35.0 m

Mission Details

Pioneer P-30

Pioneer P-30 (also known as Atlas-Able 5A, or Pioneer Y) was intended to be a lunar orbiter probe, but the mission failed shortly after launch on September 25, 1960. The objectives were to place a highly instrumented probe in lunar orbit, to investigate the environment between the Earth and Moon, and to develop technology for controlling and maneuvering spacecraft from Earth. It was equipped to estimate the Moon's mass and topography of the poles, record the distribution and velocity of micrometeorites, and study radiation, magnetic fields, and low-frequency electromagnetic waves in space.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 176.0 kg
Trans Lunar Injection

Location

LC-12, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA

Stats

1960

23rd orbital launch attempt

Atlas-Able

2nd mission
1st mission of 1960
2nd failed mission