NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Luna 16

Launch Time
Sat Sep 12, 1970 13:25 UTC

Rocket

Proton-K/Block D
RVSN USSR
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 8,840 kN
Payload to LEO: 18,900 kg
Payload to GTO: 9,000 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 56.14 m
Fairing Diameter: 3.9 m
Fairing Height: 8.9 m

Mission Details

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 sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and was the third lunar sample return mission overall, following the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions.

The spacecraft consisted of two attached stages, an ascent stage mounted on top of a descent stage. The descent stage was a cylindrical body with four protruding landing legs, fuel tanks, a landing radar, and a dual descent-engine complex.

A main descent engine was used to slow the craft until it reached a cutoff point, which was determined by the on-board computer based on altitude and velocity. After cutoff a bank of lower-thrust jets was used for the final landing. The descent stage also acted as a launch pad for the ascent stage.

The ascent stage was a smaller cylinder with a rounded top. It carried a cylindrical hermetically sealed soil-sample container inside a re-entry capsule.

The spacecraft descent stage was equipped with a television camera, radiation and temperature monitors, telecommunications equipment, and an extendable arm with a drilling rig for the collection of a lunar soil sample.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 5,720.0 kg
Trans Lunar Injection

Location

Site 81/23, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

1970

79th orbital launch attempt

Proton-K

22nd mission
3rd mission of 1970
11th successful mission
2nd consecutive successful mission