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. a mid-course propulsion system and injection rocket would have been the first united states self-contained propulsion system capable of operation many months after launch at great distances from earth and the first u.s. tests of maneuvering a satellite in space. ==mission== nearly a year passed between the first atlas-able launch in november 1959 and this second attempt due to a shortage of atlas boosters as well as intense competition between nasa and the air force for use of the pads at cape canaveral. the spacecraft was launched on atlas 80d coupled to thor-able upper stages including a hercules abl solid propellant third stage, one year and a day after the atlas-able pad explosion on lc-12. the first stage burned normally for 275 seconds, and the two atlas booster engines were jettisoned as planned after ~250 seconds. at an altitude of about , the first stage separated from the second stage. when the second stage was ignited, telemetry showed abnormal burning, and the stage failed due to a malfunction in the oxidizer system. the vehicle was unable to achieve earth orbit, re-entered, and was believed to have come down somewhere in the indian ocean. signals were returned by the payload for 1,020 seconds after launch. the mission was designed to reach the moon approximately 62 hours after launch. although the mission was a failure, ground controllers fired able va's onboard liquid propellant hydrazine rocket engine â the first time that an onboard motor was fired on a space vehicle.a.a. siddiqi, deep space chronicle, pg 26., nasa sp-2002-4524, 2002 == spacecraft design == pioneer p-30 was almost identical to the earlier pioneer p-3 satellite which failed, a 1 meter diameter sphere with a propulsion system mounted on the bottom giving a total length of . the mass of the structure and aluminum alloy shell was about  and the propulsion units roughly . four solar panels, each  and containing 2200 solar cells in 22 100-cell nodules, extended from the sides of the spherical shell in a "paddle-wheel" configuration with a total span of about . the solar panels charged nickel-cadmium batteries. in
Missions_to_the_Moon Pioneer_program Spacecraft_launched_in_1960