Manfred Memorial Moon Mission
| Names | 4M |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Reconnaissance, memorial |
| Operator | LuxSpace |
| COSPAR ID | 2014-065B |
| SATCAT no. | 40284 |
| Website | luxspace |
| Mission duration | 19 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | LuxSpace |
| Launch mass | Payload 14 kg, 3rd stage of rocket to which payload was permanently attached 21,000 kg, Nominal total=21,014 kg |
| Dry mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
| Dimensions | 61 cm × 26 cm × 10 cm (2.00 ft × 0.85 ft × 0.33 ft) |
| Power | 4.5 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23 October 2014, 18:00:04 UTC |
| Rocket | Long March 3C/G2 |
| Launch site | Xichang LC-2 |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Crashed |
| Destroyed | 4 March 2022 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Highly Elliptical |
| Perigee altitude | 1,282 kilometers (797 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 404,724 kilometers (251,484 mi) |
| Inclination | 30.4° |
| Period | 10.93 days |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Closest approach | 28 October 2014 |
| Distance | 13,000 km (8,100 mi) |
Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M) was the first private lunar probe to successfully fly by the Moon. It was led by LuxSpace, a child company of German OHB System, and named in honor of OHB Systems founder, Manfred Fuchs, who died in 2014. It was launched with the Chinese Chang'e 5-T1 test spacecraft on 23 October 2014. The lunar flyby took place on 28 October 2014, after which the spacecraft entered elliptical Earth orbit and continued transmission until 11 November 2014, exceeding its designed lifetime by four times.
The spacecraft, along with the rocket stage to which it was attached, likely made impact with the surface of the Moon after its orbit decayed, on 4 March 2022. This made Luxembourg the eighth country to reach the surface of the Moon.