Luna 11 - Definition

Luna 11

Organization:	Soviet Union
Major Contractors:	GSMZ Lavochkin
Mission Type:	Planetary Science Lunar Orbit
Satellite of:	Moon
Launch:	August 24, 1966 at 08:03:00 UTC
Launch Vehicle:	Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6)
Mission Highlight:	Entered lunar orbit on August 27, 1966, 21:49 UTC.
Mission Duration:	38-days. Last contact October 1, 1966
Mass:	1,640 kg
NSSDC ID:	1966-078A
Webpage:	NASA NSSDC Master Catalog (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1966-078A)
Orbital elements
Semimajor Axis:	2,414.5 km
Eccentricity:	.22
Inclination:	27°
Orbital Period:	178 minutes
Apogee:	1,193 km
Perigee:	160 km
Orbits:	277
Instruments
Imaging system :	Lunar photography
Gamma-ray spectrometer :
Magnetometer :
Radiation detectors :
Infrared radiometer :
Meteoroid detector :
R-1 transmission experiment :

Luna 11 was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. It is also called Lunik 11. Luna 11 was launched towards the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and entered lunar orbit on August 28, 1966. The objectives of the mission included the study of:

1. lunar gamma- and X-ray emissions in order to determine the Moon's chemical composition;
2. lunar gravitational anomalies;
3. the concentration of meteorite streams near the Moon; and,
4. the intensity of hard corpuscular radiation near the Moon.

A total of 137 radio transmissions and 277 orbits of the Moon were completed before the batteries failed on October 1, 1966.

This subset of the “second-generation” Luna spacecraft, the Ye-6LF, was designed to take the first photographs of the surface of the Moon from lunar orbit. A secondary objective was to obtain data on mass concentrations (“mascons”) on the Moon first detected by Luna 10. Using the basic Ye-6 bus, a suite of scientific instruments (plus an imaging system similar to the one used on Zond 3) replaced the small lander capsule used on the soft-landing flights. The resolution of the photos was reportedly 15 to 20 meters. A technological experiment included testing the efficiency of gear transmission in vacuum as a test for a future lunar rover. Luna 11, launched only two weeks after the U.S. Lunar Orbiter, successfully entered lunar orbit at 21:49 UT on 27 August. Parameters were 160 x 1,193 kilometers. During the mission, the TV camera failed to return usable images because the spacecraft lost proper orientation to face the lunar surface when a foreign object was lodged in the nozzle of one of the attitude-control thrusters. The other instruments functioned without fault before the mission formally ended on 1 October 1966 after the power supply had been depleted.

• Launch Date/Time: 1966-08-24 at 08:09:00 UTC
• On-orbit dry mass: 3616 kg

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