Mission Details
| Mission Name: Luna 21 |
| Mission Type: Lunar Lander |
| Operator: Soviet Union (Roscosmos) |
| Launching State: Soviet Union/Russia |
| Location: Le Monnier Crater |
| Latitude: 25.998 |
| Longitude: 30.41 |
| Launch Date: 8 January 1973, 06:55:38 UT |
| Landing Date: 16 January 1973, 01:14 UT |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Luna 21 Lunokhod 2 |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Luna 21’s mission was to deliver the rover Lunokhod 2 to the Moon.
Read more:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-21/in-depth/
Heritage Consideration
The lander carried a bas relief of Lenin and the Soviet coat-of-arms. Richard Garriott purchased both the Luna 21 lander and the Lunakhod 2 rover from the Soviet Union.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Luna 21 | |
| Cospar: 1973-001A | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. | |
| Launch Date: 8 January 1973, 06:55:38 UT | |
| Landing Date: 16 January 1973, 01:14 UT | |
| Deployment: N/A | |
| End Date: N/A | |
| Function: Robotic vehicle exploration. | |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Luna 21 carried the second successful Soviet “8YeL” lunar rover, Lunokhod 2, and was launched less than a month after the last Apollo lunar landing.
After a midcourse correction the day after launch, Luna 21 entered orbit around the Moon on Jan. 12, 1973. Orbital parameters were 62 x 56 miles (100 x 90 kilometers) at 60 degrees inclination.
On Jan. 15, the spacecraft deorbited and, after multiple engine firings, landed on the Moon at 22:35 UT the same day, inside the LeMonnier crater at 25 degrees 51 minutes north latitude and 30 degrees 27 minutes east longitude, between Mare Serenitatis and the Taurus Mountains. Less than 3 hours later, at 01:14 UT on Jan. 16, the rover disembarked from Luna 21 onto the lunar surface.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Lunokhod 2 |
| Cospar: 1973-001A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 8 January 1973, 06:55:38 UT |
| Landing Date: 16 January 1973, 01:14 UT |
| Deployment: N/A |
| End Date: June 1973 |
| Function: Robotic rover exploration |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The rover stood 135 cm high and had a mass of 840 kg. It was about 170 cm long and 160 cm wide and had 8 wheels, each with an independent suspension, motor and brake. The rover had two speeds, ~1 km/hr and ~2 km/hr. Lunokhod 2 was equipped with three TV cameras, one mounted high on the rover for navigation, which could return high resolution images at different rates (3.2, 5.7, 10.9 or 21.1 seconds per frame).
These images were used by a five-man team of controllers on Earth who sent driving commands to the rover in real time. Power was supplied by a solar panel on the inside of a round hinged lid which covered the instrument bay, which would charge the batteries when opened. A polonium-210 isotopic heat source was used to keep the rover warm during the lunar nights. There were 4 panoramic cameras mounted on the rover. Scientific instruments included a soil mechanics tester, solar X-ray experiment, an astrophotometer to measure visible and UV light levels, a magnetometer deployed in front of the rover on the end of a 2.5 m boom, a radiometer, a photodetector (Rubin-1) for laser detection experiments, and a French-supplied laser corner-reflector. The lander and rover together weighed 1814 kg.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1973-001A
