LOK Luna 17 (Ye-8 series) was an uncrewed space mission of the Luna program,also called Lunik 17. It deployed the first robotic rover onto the surface of the Moon.
Luna 17 was launched from an Earth parking orbit towards the Moon and entered lunar orbit on 15 November 1970. The spacecraft softly landed on the Moon in the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The spacecraft had dual ramps by which the payload,Lunokhod 1,descended to the lunar surface.
Lunokhod 1 was a lunar vehicle formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently powered wheels. Lunokhod 1 was equipped with a cone-shaped antenna,a highly directional helical antenna,four teleray spectrometer,an x-ray telescope,cosmic-ray detectors,and a laser retro-reflector (supplied by France[4]) was also included. The vehicle was powered by a solar cell array mounted on the underside of the lid.
Lunokhod 1 was intended to operate through three lunar days but actually operated for eleven lunar days (eleven Earth months). The operations of Lunokhod officially ceased on 4 October 1971,the anniversary of Sputnik 1,after having traveled over 10.5 kilometres (6.5 miles) while taking pictures and performing numerous tests.
Luna 17 and Lunokhod 1 landing site photographed by LRO
Luna 17 continued the spate of successes in Soviet lunar exploration begun by Luna 16 and Zond 8. Luna 17 carried Lunokhod 1,the first in a series of robot lunar roving vehicles whose conception had begun in the early 1960s,originally as part of the piloted lunar landing operations. This was the second attempt to land such a vehicle on the Moon after a failure in February 1969.
The descent stage was equipped with two landing ramps for the rover,to disembark onto the Moon's surface.
The 756-kilogram (1,666-pound-11-ounce) rover stood about 1.35 metres (4feet 5inches) high and was 2.15 metres (7feet 1inch) across. Each of its eight wheels could be controlled independently for two forward and two reverse speeds. Its top speed was about 100 metres per hour (0.062mph),with commands issued by a five-man team of "drivers" on Earth who had to deal with the 5-second delay. The set of scientific instruments was powered by solar cells (installed on the inside of the hinged top lid of the rover) and chemical batteries.
After two mid-course corrections en route to the Moon,Luna 17 entered lunar orbit and then landed on the lunar surface at 03:46:50 UT on 17 November 1970 at 38°17' north latitude and 35°west longitude,about 2,500 kilometres (1,600 miles) from the Luna 16 site in the Sea of Rains.
The Lunokhod 1 rover rolled over the ramps and onto the lunar surface at 06:28 UT. During its 322 Earth days of operation,the rover traveled 10.54 kilometres (7 miles) and returned more than 20,000 TV images and 206 high-resolution panoramas.
In addition,Lunokhod 1 performed twenty-five soil analyses with its RIFMA X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and used its penetrometer at 500 different locations.
Controllers finished the last communications session with Lunokhod 1 at 13:05 UT on 14 September 1971. Attempts to reestablish contact were finally discontinued on 4 October.
Lunokhod was a series of Soviet robotic lunar rovers designed to land on the Moon between 1969 and 1977. Lunokhod 1 was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on an extraterrestrial body.
Lunokhod 1 was the first of two robotic lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program. The Luna 17 spacecraft carried Lunokhod 1 to the Moon in 1970. Lunokhod 1 was the first remote-controlled robot "rover" to freely move across the surface of an astronomical object beyond the Earth. It was also the first wheeled craft on another celestial body. Lunokhod 0 (No.201), the previous and first attempt to do so, launched in February 1969 but failed to reach orbit.
Lunokhod 2 was the second of two unmanned lunar rovers that landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of the Lunokhod programme.
The Luna programme, occasionally called Lunik by western media, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation.
Luna 10 was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 11 was an uncrewed space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. It was also called Lunik 11. Luna 11 was launched towards the Moon from an Earth-orbiting platform and entered lunar orbit on 27 August 1966.
Luna 13 was an uncrewed space mission of the Luna program.
Luna 14 was an uncrewed space mission of the Luna program run by the Soviet Union. It was also called Lunik 14.
Luna 15 was a robotic space mission of the Soviet Luna programme, that crashed into the Moon on 21 July 1969.
Luna 16 was an uncrewed 1970 space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program. It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth. The 101 grams sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first successful lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and was the third lunar sample return mission overall.
Luna 18, part of the Ye-8-5 series, was an uncrewed space mission of the Luna program.
Luna 19, was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program. Luna 19 extended the systematic study of lunar gravitational fields and location of mascons. It also studied the lunar radiation environment, the gamma-active lunar surface, and the solar wind. Photographic coverage via a television system was also obtained.
Luna 20 was the second of three successful Soviet lunar sample return missions. It was flown as part of the Luna program as a robotic competitor to the six successful Apollo lunar sample return missions.
Luna 21 was an uncrewed space mission, and its spacecraft, of the Luna program, also called Lunik 21, in 1973. The spacecraft landed on the Moon and deployed 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.
Luna 24 was a robotic probe of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. The last of the Luna series of spacecraft, the mission of the Luna 24 probe was the third Soviet mission to return lunar soil samples from the Moon. The probe landed in Mare Crisium. The mission returned 170.1 g (6.00 oz) of lunar samples to the Earth on 22 August 1976.
The Soviet space program was the national space program of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
A Moon landing or lunar landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
A rover is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move across the solid surface on a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies. Some rovers have been designed as land vehicles to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers are typically created to land on another planet via a lander-style spacecraft, tasked to collect information about the terrain, and to take crust samples such as dust, soil, rocks, and even liquids. They are essential tools in space exploration.
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods and the Chinese Yutus. Three countries have had operating rovers on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. An Indian mission failed while Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.
Payloads are separated by bullets (·), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).
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