''LOK Luna 17'' (Ye-8 series) was an

unmanned space mission A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft, usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather t ...

of the

Luna program The Luna programme (from the Russian word "Luna" meaning "Moon"), 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 ...

, also called ''Lunik 17''. It deployed the first robotic rover onto the surface of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Launch

''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 Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", "Sea of Tears") is a vast lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the colli ...

(Sea of Rains). The spacecraft had dual ramps by which the payload, ''

Lunokhod 1 ''Lunokhod 1'' ( Russian: Луноход-1 ("Moonwalker 1"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 203 ("Device 8EL No. 203")) was the first of two robotic lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program. The ...

'', 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 A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the ...

, an

x-ray telescope An X-ray telescope (XRT) is a telescope that is designed to observe remote objects in the X-ray spectrum. In order to get above the Earth's atmosphere, which is opaque to X-rays, X-ray telescopes must be mounted on high altitude rockets, balloon ...

cosmic-ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

detectors, and a laser device were also included. The vehicle was powered by a

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

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 Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...

, after having traveled over while taking pictures and performing numerous tests. Lunokhod1 l 17 with map

''Luna 17'' continued the spate of successes in Soviet lunar exploration begun by ''

Luna 16 ''Luna 16'' was an uncrewed 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 (3.56 ounces) sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. ...

'' and

Zond 8 Zond 8, also known as L-1 No.14, was the last in the series of circumlunar spacecraft, a member of the Soviet Zond program, designed to rehearse a piloted circumlunar flight, an uncrewed version of Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed circumlunar flight spacecra ...

. ''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 rover stood about high and was across. Each of its eight wheels could be controlled independently for two forward and two reverse speeds. Its top speed was about , 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 from the

site in the

Sea of Rains Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", "Sea of Tears") is a vast lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the collis ...

. 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 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. In March 2010, the

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions t ...

photographed the landing site of ''Luna 17'', showing the lander and tracks of the rover. In April 2010, the

Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation, or APOLLO, is a project at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. It is an extension and advancement of previous Lunar Laser Ranging experiments, which use retroreflectors on the ...

team announced that with the aid of these photos, they had found the long-lost ''Lunokhod 1'' rover and had received returns from the laser

retroreflector A retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects radiation (usually light) back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, ...

References

External links

Zarya - ''Luna 17'' chronology
{{Orbital launches in 1970 Luna programme 1970 in the Soviet Union Soft landings on the Moon Spacecraft launched in 1970 1970 on the Moon

Launch

See also

References

External links