Today in outer space! 13 July 1969: The Soviet Union launches the lunar mission Moon 15.

On July 13, 1969, the Soviet Union launched its spacecraft Luna 15 on a mission to the Moon. Luna 15 was a robot sample return mission sent to retrieve lunar ground and bring it back to Earth.

It was launched three days before Apollo 11, which led the early astronauts to the surface of the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin beat Luna 15 the moon by approximately 8 o'clock.

Just minutes after the start of the Soviet spacecraft's descent on 21 July, it unexpectedly crashed into a mountain and ceased transmitting data to mission control.