This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(April 2015) |
Mission type | Lunar sample return |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 1972-007A |
SATCAT no. | 5835 |
Mission duration | 11 days (day of launch to day of landing) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | Ye-8-5 |
Manufacturer | GSMZ Lavochkin |
Launch mass | 5,725 kilograms (12,621 lb) [1] |
Dry mass | 5,600 kilograms (12,300 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 14 February 1972, 03:27:58 UTC [2] |
Rocket | Proton-K/D |
Launch site | Baikonur 81/24 |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 25 February 1972, 19:19 UTC |
Landing site | 47°24′N68°36′E / 47.400°N 68.600°E , [3] 40 km north of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Selenocentric |
Semi-major axis | 6,477.8 kilometres (4,025.1 mi) |
Eccentricity | 0.0 |
Periselene altitude | 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
Aposelene altitude | 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
Inclination | 65 degrees |
Period | 119 minutes |
Lunar orbiter | |
Orbits | ~36 |
Lunar lander | |
Landing date | 21 February 1972, 19:19 UTC |
Return launch | 22 February 1972, 22:58 UTC |
Landing site | 3°47′11″N56°37′27″E / 3.7863°N 56.6242°E Coordinates: 3°47′11″N56°37′27″E / 3.7863°N 56.6242°E [4] |
Sample mass | 55 grams |
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 20 was placed in an intermediate Earth parking orbit and from this orbit was sent towards the Moon. It entered lunar orbit on 18 February 1972. On 21 February 1972,Luna 20 soft landed on the Moon in a mountainous area known as the Terra Apollonius (or Apollonius highlands) near Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility),120 km from where Luna 16 had landed.
While on the lunar surface,the panoramic television system was operated. Lunar samples were obtained by means of an extendable drilling apparatus. The ascent stage of Luna 20 was launched from the lunar surface on 22 February 1972 carrying 1.9 ounces (55 grams) of collected lunar samples in a sealed capsule. [5] It landed in the Soviet Union on 25 February 1972. The lunar samples were recovered the following day.
This was the eighth Soviet spacecraft launched with the intent of returning lunar soil to Earth. It was evidently sent to complete the mission that Luna 18 had failed to accomplish. After a 4.5-day flight to the Moon,which included a single midcourse correction on 15 February,Luna 20 entered orbit around the Moon on 18 February. Initial orbital parameters were 100 x 100 kilometers at 65°inclination.
Three days later,at 19:13 UT,the spacecraft fired its main engine for 267 seconds to begin descent to the lunar surface. A second firing further reduced velocity before Luna 20 set down safely on the Moon at 19:19 UT on 21 February 1972 at coordinates 3.7863 North and 56.6242 East, [4] only 1.8 kilometers from the crash site of Luna 18.
After collecting a small sample of lunar soil,the spacecraft's ascent stage lifted off at 22:58 UT on 22 February and quickly accelerated to 2.7 kilometers per second velocity—sufficient to return to Earth. The small spherical capsule eventually parachuted down safely on an island in the Karkingir River,40 kilometers north of the town of Jezkazgan in Kazakhstan,at 19:19 UT on 25 February 1972.
The 55-gram soil sample differed from that collected by Luna 16 in that the majority (50 to 60%) of the rock particles in the newer sample were ancient lunar highlands anorthosite (which consists largely of feldspar) rather than the basalt of the earlier one (which contained about 1 to 2% of anorthosite). [6] The American Apollo 16 mission returned similar highlands material two months later.
Like the Luna 16 soil,samples of the Luna 20 collection were shared with American and French scientists. A 0.4983g sample of material from a depth of 27and 32 cm was sent to Britain. [7]
Lunar Mission | Sample Returned | Year |
---|---|---|
Luna 16 | 101 g [8] | 1970 |
Luna 20 | 30 g [8] | 1972 |
Luna 24 | 170.1 g [8] | 1976 |
In March 2010,NASA reported that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite had spotted Luna 20 on the lunar surface. [9] [10]
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.
Luna 1, also known as Mechta, E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover, was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as an impactor, Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959.
Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. Though it returned rather poor pictures, the historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon was created after image processing improved the pictures.
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 12 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 12.
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.
LOK Luna 17 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 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 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 22 was an uncrewed space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 22.
Luna 23 was an uncrewed space mission of the Luna program developed by the Soviet Union.
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.
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.
Moon rock or lunar rock is rock originating from Earth's Moon. This includes lunar material collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon, and rock that has been ejected naturally from the Moon's surface and landed on Earth as meteorites.