On 21 July 1969, while Apollo 11 astronauts finished the first human moonwalk, Luna 15, a robotic Soviet spacecraft in lunar orbit at the time, began its descent to the lunar surface. …

Luna-15 was intended to be the first vehicle to collect lunar soil and bring it back to Earth.

5 days ago · Luna 15 was an intended lunar sample return mission. It took place at the same time as the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, and was thought to be a last ditch effort by the Soviet …

Sep 14, 2021 · Russia secretly launched Luna 15, a robotic space mission of the Soviet space program, to the Moon's surface from lunar orbit before.

Jul 4, 2019 · Had Luna 15 succeeded in its sample return mission, it still wouldn’t have overshadowed Apollo 11. Not only was the American mission manned where the Soviet …

Apr 19, 2019 · Two hours before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were scheduled to leave the surface of the moon after their historic moonwalk, an unmanned Russian probe called Luna 15 …

Dec 5, 2013 · Luna 15 was just one in a long line of Soviet probes that had made it to the Moon—Luna 2 was the first human-made object to crash into the Moon way back in August …

Jul 17, 2009 · On July 21, with Armstrong and Aldrin safely inside the Eagle lander following their moonwalk, a State Commission finally made the call to land Luna 15 (yes, that's how things …

Jul 23, 2019 · The uncrewed Luna 15 was launched three days before Apollo 11. But an abrupt end to its work raised suspicions it had crashed.

Jul 19, 2019 · Luna 15 plummeted toward the moon on July 21, crashed into a mountain and cratered near the aptly named Sea of Crises — all before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin …