Luna 9

Organization:	Soviet Union
Major Contractors:	GSMZ Lavochkin
Mission Type:	Planetary Science Lunar landing
Satellite of:	Moon
Launch:	January 31, 1966. 11:45:00 UTC
Launch Vehicle:	Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6)
Mission Highlight:	Lunar soft landing on February 3, 1966, 18:44:52 UTC 7.13° N - 64.37° W.
Mission Duration:	6-days. Last transmission February 6, 1966, 22:55 UTC.
Mass:	1.580 kg
NSSDC ID:	1966-006A
Webpage:	NASA NSSDC Master Catalog
Orbital elements
Semimajor Axis:	n/a
Eccentricity:	n/a
Inclination:	n/a
Orbital Period:	n/a
Aposelene:	n/a
Periselene:	n/a
Orbits:	Lunar soft landing
Instruments
Close-Up Lunar Surface Photography :	Lunar photography

Luna 9 (E-6 series), also known as Lunik 9 (internal name E-6 N. 13), was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. On February 3, 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data to Earth. Image File history File links Luna-9_spacecraft. ... NPO Lavochkin is a Russian satellite manufacturer. ... Planetary science, also known as planetology or planetary astronomy, is the science of planets, or planetary systems, and the solar system. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... UTC redirects here. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Unsolved problems in physics: What causes anything to have mass? Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to. ... The elements of an orbit are the parameters needed to specify that orbit uniquely, given a model of two ideal masses obeying the Newtonian laws of motion and the inverse-square law of gravitational attraction. ... In geometry, the semi-major axis (also semimajor axis) a applies to ellipses and hyperbolas. ... In astrodynamics, under standard assumptions any orbit must be of conic section shape. ... Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction. ... It has been suggested that Space probe be merged into this article or section. ... The Luna programme was a series of 24 unmanned space missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ...

The automatic lunar station that achieved the soft landing weighed 99 kg. It was a hermetically sealed container with radio equipment, a program timing device, heat control systems, scientific apparatus, power sources, and a television system. The Luna 9 payload was carried to Earth orbit by an A-2-E vehicle and then conveyed toward the Moon by a fourth stage rocket that separated itself from the payload. Flight apparatus separated from the payload shortly before Luna 9 landed. The U.S. National Prototype Kilogram, which currently serves as the primary standard for measuring mass in the U.S. It was assigned to the United States in 1889 and is periodically recertified and traceable to the primary international standard, The Kilogram, held at the Bureau International des Poids et... A hermetic seal is an airtight seal. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ...

After landing in the Ocean of Storms on February 3, 1966, the four petals, which formed the spacecraft, opened outward and stabilized the spacecraft on the lunar surface. Spring-controlled antennas assumed operating positions, and the television camera rotating mirror system, which operated by revolving and tilting, began a photographic survey of the lunar environment. Seven radio sessions, totaling 8 hours and 5 minutes, were transmitted as were three series of TV pictures. The Ocean of Storms of the Moon. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

Luna 9 soft landing capsule (NASA)

When assembled, the photographs provided a panoramic view of the nearby lunar surface. The pictures included views of nearby rocks and of the horizon 1.4 km away from the spacecraft. Luna 9 soft landing capsule (NASA) Also available as commons:Image:Luna 9 landing capsule. ... Luna 9 soft landing capsule (NASA) Also available as commons:Image:Luna 9 landing capsule. ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ...

For unknown reasons, the pictures from Luna 9 were not released immediately by the Soviet authorities. Instead, the Jodrell Bank Observatory, which was monitoring the craft, noticed that the signal format used was identical to the internationally-agreed system used by newspapers for transmitting pictures. The Daily Express rushed a suitable receiver to the Observatory and the pictures from Luna 9 were decoded and published world-wide. Some people suspect that the craft's designers had fitted this equipment either to ensure that Jodrell Bank, which was superior to anything the Soviet authorities had access to at the time, would release the pictures without incurring the political embarrassment of having to ask for them, or else, to prevent the Soviet authorities from securing a similar propaganda victory to that following Gagarin's flight.^[1] The 76m Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory. ... The Daily Express is a conservative, middle-market British tabloid newspaper. ...

With this mission, the Soviets accomplished another spectacular first in the space race, the first survivable landing of a humanmade object on another celestial body. Luna 9 was the twelfth attempt at a soft-landing by the Soviets; it was also the first deep space probe built by the Lavochkin design bureau, which ultimately would design and build almost all Soviet (and Russian) lunar and interplanetary spacecraft. All operations prior to landing occurred without fault, and the 58-centimeter spheroid ALS capsule landed on the Moon at 18:45:30 UT on 3 February 1966 west of the Reiner and Marius craters in the Ocean of Storms (at 7°8' north latitude and 64°22' west longitude). Approximately 5 minutes after touchdown, Luna 9 began transmitting data to Earth, but it was 7 hours (after the Sun climbed to 7° elevation) before the probe began sending the first of nine images (including five panoramas) of the surface of the Moon. NPO Lavochkin is a Russian satellite manufacturer. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

These were the first images sent from the surface of another planetary body. The radiation detector, the only scientific instrument on board, measured a dosage of 30 millirads (0.3 gray) per day. Perhaps the most important discovery of the mission was determining that a foreign object would not simply sink into the lunar dust, that is, that the ground could support a heavy lander. Last contact with the spacecraft was at 22:55 UT on 6 February 1966. The gray (symbol: Gy) is the SI unit of absorbed dose. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

One of the first pictures taken of Lunar surface

• Launch date/time: 1966-01-31 at 11:45:00 UTC
• In-orbit dry mass: 1580 kg

Image File history File links Luna-9_surface_image. ... Image File history File links Luna-9_surface_image. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Sources