Luna 16
Mission type | Lunar sample return | |
---|---|---|
COSPAR ID | 1970-072A | |
SATCAT no. | 4527 | |
Mission duration | 12 days | |
Spacecraft properties | ||
Bus | Ye-8-5 | |
Manufacturer | GSMZ Lavochkin | |
Launch mass | 5,725 kg (12,621 lb)[1] | |
Landing mass | 1,880 kg (4,140 lb) [2] | |
Start of mission | ||
Launch date | 12 September 1970, 13:25:52[1] | UTC|
Rocket | Proton-K/D | |
Launch site | Baikonur 81/23 | |
End of mission | ||
Landing date | 24 September 1970, 05:25 | UTC|
Landing site | 47°24′N 68°36′E / 47.400°N 68.600°E[3] | |
Orbital parameters | ||
Reference system | Semi-major axis 6,488.8 km (4,032.0 mi) | |
Eccentricity | 0 | |
Periselene altitude | 111 km (69 mi) | |
Aposelene altitude | 111 km (69 mi) | |
Inclination | 70° | |
Period | 119 minutes | |
Epoch | 18 September 1970 | |
Lunar orbiter | ||
Orbital insertion | 17 September 1970 | |
Orbits | ~36 | |
Lunar lander | ||
Landing date | 20 September 1970, 05:18 UTC | |
Return launch | 21 September 1970, 07:43 UTC | |
Landing site | 0°30′49″S 56°21′50″E / 0.5137°S 56.3638°E | |
Sample mass | 101 grams (3.6 oz) | |
Instruments | ||
Stereo photographic imaging system Remote arm for sample collection Radiation detector | ||
Luna 16 was an
Overview
The spacecraft consisted of two attached stages, an ascent stage mounted on top of a descent stage. The descent stage was a cylindrical body with four protruding landing legs, fuel tanks, a landing radar, and a dual descent-engine complex.
A main descent engine was used to slow the craft until it reached a cutoff point, which was determined by the on-board computer based on altitude and velocity. After cutoff a bank of lower-thrust jets was used for the final landing. The descent stage also acted as a launch pad for the ascent stage.
The ascent stage was a smaller cylinder with a rounded top. It carried a cylindrical hermetically sealed soil-sample container inside a re-entry capsule.
The spacecraft descent stage was equipped with a television camera, radiation and temperature monitors, telecommunications equipment, and an extendable arm with a drilling rig for the collection of a lunar soil sample.
Mission summary
The Luna 16 automated station was launched toward the Moon from a preliminary Earth orbit and after one mid-course correction on 13 September it entered a circular 111 km with 70° inclination lunar orbit on 17 September 1970. The lunar gravity was studied from this orbit. After two orbital adjustments were performed on 18 and 19 September the
This was the first landing made in the lunar night side, as the Sun had set about 60 hours earlier. The main descent engine cut off at an altitude of 20 m, and the landing jets cut off at 2 m height at a velocity less than 2.4 m/s, followed by vertical free fall. The mass of the spacecraft at landing was 1,880 kilograms. Less than an hour after landing, at 06:03 UT, an automatic drill penetrated the lunar surface to collect a soil sample. After drilling for seven minutes, the drill reached a stop at 35 centimeters depth and then withdrew its sample and lifted it in an arc to the top of the spacecraft, depositing the lunar material in a small spherical capsule mounted on the main spacecraft bus. The column of regolith in the drill tube was then transferred to the soil sample container.[2]
After 26 hours and 25 minutes on the lunar surface, at 07:43 UT on 21 September, the spacecraft's upper stage lifted off from the Moon. The lower stage of Luna 16 remained on the lunar surface and continued transmission of lunar temperature and radiation data. Three days later, on 24 September, after a direct ascent traverse with no mid-course corrections, the capsule, with its 101 grams of lunar soil, reentered Earth's atmosphere at a velocity of 11 kilometers per second. The capsule parachuted down 80 kilometers southeast of the town of Jezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 05:25 UT on 24 September 1970. Analysis of the dark basalt material indicated a close resemblance to soil recovered by the American Apollo 12 mission.[2]
According to the
A 0.4825 g sample of material from a depth of 27 cm was sent to Britain.[6]
Legacy
Lunar Mission |
Sample Returned |
Year |
---|---|---|
Luna 16 | 101 g (3.6 oz)[7] | 1970 |
Luna 20 | 30 g (1.1 oz)[8] | 1972 |
Luna 24 | 170 g (6.0 oz)[9] | 1976 |
Three tiny samples (0.2 grams) of the Luna 16 soil were sold at Sotheby's auction for $442,500 in 1993.[10] The samples were resold by Sotheby's for US$855,000 on 29 November 2018.[11]
A series of 10-kopeck stamps was issued in 1970 to commemorate the flight of Luna 16 lunar probe and depicted the main stages of the programme: soft landing on Moon, launch of the lunar soil sample return capsule, and parachute assisted landing back on Earth.
Replicas of Luna 16 are on display at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics.
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Luna 16 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
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Luna 16 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
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Luna 16 at the Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
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Luna 16 at the Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
See also
- Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
- List of artificial objects on the Moon (descent stage)
References
- ^ ISBN 9781626830431.
- ^ ISBN 0 7106 0444 0
- ^ "Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration" (PDF). p. 314. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-29.
- ISBN 0-375-75485-7.
- LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
- S2CID 119730403.
- ^ "NASA - NSSDC - Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ "NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ "NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2 December 1995). "F.B.I. Revisits Earthly Theft of Moon Rock". The New York Times. p. 24.
- ^ "THE ONLY KNOWN DOCUMENTED SAMPLES OF THE MOON AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE OWNERSHIP". Sothebys.com. 29 November 2018.
External links
- Lunar Orbiter 4 image showing the landing site of Luna 16 in Mare Fecunditatis.
- Zarya – Luna 16 chronology
- NASA NSSDC Master Catalog