Luna 24

Luna 24

Operator	Soviet Union
Major contractors	GSMZ Lavochkin
Mission type	Lunar Science: lunar sample return
Launch date	9 August 1976 15:04:12 UTC
Carrier rocket	Proton 8K82K + Blok D
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome
Mission duration	13 days
Satellite of	Moon
Orbital insertion date	14 August 1976
Orbits	~48
Landing	22 August 1976 17:55 UTC
Landing site	200 km (120 mi) SE of Surgut in western Siberia
COSPAR ID	1976-081A
Mass	5,800 kg (12,800 lb)
Orbital elements
Semimajor axis	6,492.8 km (4,034.4 mi)
Eccentricity	0
Inclination	120°
Apoapsis	115 km (71 mi)
Periapsis	115 km (71 mi)
Orbital period	119 minutes
Moon landing
Date	18 August 1976 06:36 UTC
Coordinates	12°45'N 62°12'E
Departure	19 August 1976 05:25 UTC
Instruments
Main instruments	Stereo photographic imaging system Improved drill/Remote arm for sample collection Radiation detector Radio-altimeter
References: NASA NSSDC Master Catalog

Luna 24 (Ye-8-5M series), also called Lunik 24, was an unmanned space mission 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 retrieve lunar soil samples from the Earth's moon (the first two sample return missions were Luna 16 and Luna 20). The spacecraft orbital dry mass was 4,800 kg (10,600 lb).

The probe landed in the area known as Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis). The mission returned 170.1 grams (6.00 oz) of lunar samples to the Earth on 22 August 1976.

Luna 24 was the third attempt to recover a sample from the unexplored Mare Crisium, the location of a large lunar mascon (after Luna 23 and a launch failure in October 1975). After a trajectory correction on 11 August 1976, Luna 24 entered lunar orbit three days later. Initial orbital parameters were 115 by 115 kilometres (71 by 71 mi) at 120° inclination. After further changes to its orbit, Luna 24 set down safely on the lunar surface at 06:36 UT on 18 August 1976 at 12°45' north latitude and 62°12' east longitude, not far from where Luna 23 had landed.^[1]

Under command from ground control, the lander deployed its sample arm and pushed its drilling head about 2 metres into the nearby soil. The sample was safely stowed in the small return capsule, and after nearly a day on the Moon, Luna 24 lifted off successfully at 05:25 UT on 19 August 1976. After an uneventful return trip, Luna 24's capsule entered Earth's atmosphere and parachuted safely to land at 17:55 UT on 22 August 1976, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) southeast of Surgut in western Siberia. Study of the recovered 170.1 grams (6.00 oz) of soil indicated a laminated type structure, as if laid down in successive deposits. The Soviet Union swapped a gram of the mission sample for a lunar sample from NASA in December 1976.^[1] Luna 24 was the last lunar spacecraft to be launched by the Soviet Union. It was also the last spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon until the landing of Chang'e 3 on December 14, 2013, 37 years later.

In March 2012, NASA announced that the exact location of Luna 24 on the lunar surface (12.7145° N, 62.2097° E) had been found by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe orbital cameras.^[2]

References

External links

• Zarya - Luna 24 chronology
• "Soviet Moon Lander Discovered Water on The Moon in 1976". The Physics arXiv Blog. Technology Review. May 30, 2012.