Lunokhod programme
Lunokhod (Russian: Луноход, IPA:
The 1969 Lunokhod 1A (Lunokhod 0, Lunokhod No. 201) was destroyed during launch, the 1970
The Lunokhods were primarily designed to support the
The Lunokhods were transported to the lunar surface by Luna spacecraft, which were launched by Proton-K rockets.
Development
Lunokhod's original primary mission was to be the back-up for L3 crewed Moon expeditions and for the later Zvezda lunar base.[citation needed] For mission safety, weeks before the human mission on a LK lander, an LK-R uncrewed lander from the L3 lunar expedition complex and two Lunokhod automated rovers would be sent to the Moon for a preliminary study of the surface around LK-R and LK sites, to act as radio beacons for precision landings of LK-R and LK, and for a visual evaluation of the status of the site.[1]
In mid-1968, at the facility KIP-10 or NIP-10 (КИП-10 or НИП-10, located at 45°03′10″N 33°53′25″E / 45.052703°N 33.890256°E)[2] in the closed town Shkolnoye (Simferopol-28) , near Simferopol, Crimea, a lunodrom (лунодром - Moondrome, located at 45°03′15″N 33°53′37″E / 45.054212°N 33.893627°E) was built. It covered an area of one hectare (120 meters by 70 meters) and was very similar to some parts of the lunar surface. It was constructed using more than 3,000 cubic meters of soil, and included 54 craters up to 16 m in diameter and around about 160 rocks of various sizes.[3] The whole area was surrounded with bricks, painted in gray and black. It was used to analyze problems with the Lunokhod chassis and cosmonaut's skill to control one.[4][5]
Closed town Simferopol-28 contained the most significant tracking facility in the Soviet Union, having the largest number of antennas, the largest area, and the most personnel of any of the Soviet tracking facilities. The facility was one of a network of ten facilities which contain earth satellite vehicle tracking equipment and provide command/control for Soviet near-space civil and military events. Additionally, this facility supported all lunar programmes of the Soviet Union, in association with the Evpatoria Deep Space Tracking Facility.[6][7]
At least four complete vehicles were constructed, with the serial numbers 201, 203, 204 and 205.[citation needed]
Rover design
The Lunokhod rovers were lunar vehicles formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently-powered wheels. They were equipped with a cone-shaped antenna, a highly directional
The Lunokhods were designed under the leadership of Georgy Babakin[8] at Lavochkin design bureau. The metal chassis themselves were designed by Alexander Kemurdzhian.
The vehicles were powered by
To be able to work in a vacuum a special fluoride-based lubricant was used for the rover's mechanical parts, and the electric motors, one in each wheel hub, were enclosed in pressurised containers.[10][11]
The rovers stood 135 centimetres (4 feet 5 inches) high and had a mass of 840 kg (1,850 lb). It was about 170 centimetres (5 feet 7 inches) long and 160 centimetres (5 feet 3 inches) wide and had eight wheels each with an independent suspension, motor and brake. The rover had two speeds, approximately 1 and 2 km/h (0.6 and 1.2 mph).
The Lunokhods were transported to the lunar surface by Luna spacecraft, which were launched by Proton-K rockets. The Moon lander part of the Luna spacecraft for Lunokhods was similar to the one for sample-return missions.
Lunokhod Rovers
Lunokhod 201
After years of secret engineering development and training, the first Lunokhod (vehicle 8ЕЛ№201) was launched on February 19, 1969. Within a few seconds the rocket disintegrated and the first Lunokhod was lost. The rest of the world did not learn of the rocket's valuable payload until years later.
Lunokhod 1
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019) |
After the destruction of the original Lunokhod, Soviet engineers began work immediately on another lunar vehicle. Lunokhod 1 (vehicle 8ЕЛ№203) was the first of two uncrewed lunar rovers successfully landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod programme. The spacecraft which carried Lunokhod 1 was named Luna 17. Lunokhod 1 was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.
Luna 17 was launched on November 10, 1970 at 14:44:01 UTC. After reaching Earth parking orbit, the final stage of Luna 17's launching rocket fired to place it into a trajectory towards the Moon (November 10, 1970 at 14:54 UTC). After two course correction manoeuvres (on November 12 and 14) it entered lunar orbit on November 15, 1970 at 22:00 UTC.
The spacecraft soft-landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains on November 17, 1970 at 03:47 UTC. The lander had dual ramps from which the payload, Lunokhod 1, could descend to the surface. At 06:28 UT the rover moved down the ramps and onto the Moon.
The rover's payload included cameras (two television and four panoramic telephotometers), a RIFMA
An urban legend was spread among the Soviet Union that the Lunokhod rover was driven by a “KGB Dwarf”,[15] however it was never explained how supplies were stored to keep them alive for an 11-month mission.
Lunokhod 2
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019) |
The Luna 21 spacecraft landed on the Moon to deploy the second Soviet lunar rover, Lunokhod 2. The primary objectives of the mission were to collect images of the lunar surface, examine ambient light levels to determine the feasibility of astronomical observations from the Moon, perform laser ranging experiments from Earth, observe solar X-rays, measure local magnetic fields, and study mechanical properties of the lunar surface material.
The landing occurred on January 15, 1973 at 23:35 UT in Le Monnier crater (25.85 degrees N, 30.45 degrees E).
After landing the Lunokhod 2 took television images of the surrounding area, then rolled down a ramp to the surface at 01:14 UT on 1973-01-16. It then took pictures of the Luna 21 lander and landing site.
The rover was equipped with three slow-scan television cameras, one mounted high on the rover for navigation, which could return high resolution images at different rates—3.2, 5.7, 10.9 or 21.1 seconds per frame (not frames per second). These images were used by the five-man team of controllers on Earth who sent driving commands to the rover in real time.[16] There were four panoramic cameras mounted on the rover.
Scientific instruments included a soil mechanics tester, solar X-ray experiment, an astrophotometer to measure visible and ultraviolet light levels, a magnetometer deployed in front of the rover on the end of a 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) boom, a radiometer, a photodetector (Rubin-1) for laser detection experiments, and a French-supplied laser corner reflector.
Payload
- Cameras (three television and four panoramic telephotometers)
- RIFMA-M X-ray fluorescence spectrometer
- X-ray telescope
- PROP odometer/penetrometer
- RV-2N-LS radiation detector
- TL laser retroreflector
- AF-3L UV/visible astrophotometer
- SG-70A magnetometer
- Rubin 1 photodetector
Lunokhod 3
Lunokhod 3 (vehicle 8ЕЛ№205) was built for a Moon landing in 1977 as Luna 25,[17] but never flew to the Moon due to lack of launchers and funding. It remains at the NPO Lavochkin museum.[18]
Results
During its 322 Earth days of operations, Lunokhod 1 travelled 10.5 km (6.5 miles) and returned more than 20,000 television images and 206 high-resolution panoramas.[19] In addition, it performed twenty-five soil analyses with its RIFMA x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and used its penetrometer at 500 different locations.
In 2010, nearly forty years after the 1971 loss of signal from Lunokhod 1, the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed its tracks and final location, and researchers, using a telescopic pulsed-laser rangefinder, detected the robot's retroreflector.[21]
Not until
Chernobyl legacy
According to a French documentary television film
Lunokhod designers were called back from retirement, and in two weeks rovers were made which used
Locations and ownership
Until 2010, the final location of Lunokhod 1 was uncertain by a few kilometers.
Lunokhod 2 continues to be detected by
See also
- Exploration of the Moon
- Mars Exploration Rovers
- Mars Pathfinder
- Tank on the Moon
References
- ^ "Soyuz 7K-LOK". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ "10.7 Луноходы Симф". kik-sssr.ru. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
- ^ "NIP-10 Simferopol Near Earth Satellite Center, The Lunokhod Moon Drome". flickr.com. 30 August 2011.
- ^ Космическая энциклопедия (in Russian). September 18, 2008.
- ^ "Panoramio is no longer available". www.panoramio.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ^ NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION CENTER June 1969 SIMFEROPOL SPACEFLIGHT CENTER
- ^ "Infinity Beckoned by Jay Gallentine". Archived from the original on September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Lunochod's chief designer is dead". Cosmic Mirror. March 6, 2003. Archived from the original on May 1, 2003.
- ^ Blair, Sean (March 14, 2011)." Rovers learning from Lunokhod", E&T News. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Den ryska månbilen". Vetenskapens värld (in Swedish). 11 February 2008. SVT2. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ^ "Moon applications". Synlube Lube-4-Life.
- ^ a b c "Tank on the Moon". The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. December 6, 2007. CBC-TV. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008.
- ^ Karacalıoğlu, Göktuğ (January 6, 2014). "Energy Resources for Space Missions". Space Safety Magazine. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
- ^ "In Depth | Luna 17". NASA Solar System Exploration. Archived from the original on 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ "KGB Dwarf". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ^ "Экипажи Лунохода". www.astronaut.ru.
- ISBN 9780387218960. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
- ^ Chaikin, Andy (February–March 2004). "The Other Moon Landings". Air & Space. Archived from the original on 2014-05-11.
- ^ "Lunokhod 1 Panoramas". planetology.ru. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
- ^ Wall, Mike (July 11, 2013). "NASA Moon Probe Helps Revise Off-Planet Driving Record | Lunokhod 2". Space.com. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Bleicher, Ariel (August 2010). "Forgotten Soviet Moon Rover Beams Light Back to Earth". IEEE Spectrum. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
- ^ "Public Events Mark Mars Rovers' Five-Year Anniversary" (Press release). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. January 12, 2009. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
- ^ a b c Zarowny, Andrew (March 16, 2011). "Lunokhod: From the Moon to Chernobyl, the Little Robot That Could!". Right Pundits. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ McDougal, Heather (February 19, 2009). "Lunokhod and the Art of Space". Cabinet of Wonders. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ Anderson, Christopher (January 20, 1990). "Soviet Official Admits That Robots Couldn't Handle Chernobyl Cleanup". The Scientist. Canada. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ Stooke, P.J. (2005). Lunar laser ranging and the location of Lunokhod 1 (PDF). Lunar & Planetary Science XXXVI.
- ^ David, Leonard (March 27, 2006). "Lunar Lost & Found: The Search for Old Spacecraft". SPACE.com.
- ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (March 17, 2010). "And now for Luna 17 and Lunokhod 1". Planetary Report. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- ^ "LROC Observation M114185541R". Arizona State University.
- ^ Kluger, Jeffrey (April 1994). "The Bloc on the Block". Discover Magazine.
- ^ Sotheby's Catalogue - Russian Space History, Addendum, Lot 68A, December 11, 1993
- ^ Yans, Cindy (April 13, 2001). "Lord British, we hardly knew ye". Computer Games Magazine. via Demiurg.net.
- ^ "The Astronaut's Son's Secret Sputnik". CollectSPACE. October 2, 2007.
- ^ Garriott, Owen (December 10, 2007). "Sputnik: 50 Years, One Month, Two Weeks Later". Are We Alone (Interview). Interviewed by Seth Shostak. SETI Institute.
Further reading
- Vinogradov, A. P., ed. (1971). Peredvizhnaya Laboratoriya na Lune Lunokhod-1. Tom 1 (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka.
- Barsukov, V. L., ed. (1978). Peredvizhnaya Laboratoriya na Lune Lunokhod-1. Tom 2 (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka.
External links
- Lunar and Planetary Department Moscow University
- Exploring the Moon (1969-1976) - a diary of significant events in Soviet lunar exploration, including those associated with the Lunokhod programme
- Don P. Mitchell's catalog of Soviet Moon Images including many from the Lunokhod programme
- Remote control lunokhods and planetrovers Archived 2020-08-12 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- Details of the cameras used in the Lunokhods (about half way down the page, or search the page for "Lunokhod")