The Soviet Union’s Luna E-1 No. 1 (1958)
Like the U.S., the Soviet Union was eager to reach the Moon. The Luna series of missions attempted to do just that, but these early exploratory attempts also resulted in a host of failures. The very first of these missions, Luna E-1 No. 1 (also known as Luna 1958A), was an attempt to deliberately crash a spacecraft onto the lunar surface, but the 794-pound (360 kg) Ye-1 probe never reached space. On September 23, 1958, the launch vehicle “underwent a structural failure due to vibration caused by pressure oscillations in the…boosters and exploded 92 seconds after launch,” according to NASA.
