Soft Landing the Hard Way

With modest fanfare, last week the Russians launched their first space shot aimed at landing an unmanned vehicle softly on the moon. After a successful mid-course correction of trajectory, Tass announced that the spacecraft Lunik V was expected to touch down on the lunar plain called the Sea of Clouds at 10:15 p.m. Moscow time. And there were proud hints that this time the flight might not end in the destructive crash that has marked all previous Russian and U.S. moon shots.

Then came the report that Lunik V had landed in the area of the Sea of Clouds five minutes ahead of schedule. "During the flight," said Tass, "a great deal of information was obtained which is necessary for the further elaboration of a system for soft landing on the moon's surface." No further explanation was offered, but most non-Soviet experts suspected that Lunik V's retrorockets had not ignited, and that the spacecraft had crashed on the moon while traveling at 6,000 m.p.h. Such a failure to slow down would account neatly for the early impact.

Certainly the Russians did not score any spectacular triumph, but no competent space engineer would blame them for failing on the first try. The U.S. Surveyor program, which is working toward the same soft-landing goal, will fire at least four test shots starting next fall, before even trying to land a scientific pay load equipped to radio information from the lunar surface. It is likely that the Russians are making the same gradual approach.

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