Soviet Union — Roscosmos
Luna 17: Lunar Landing

Mission Details

Mission Name: Luna 17
Mission Type: Lunar Lander
Operator: Soviet Union (Roscosmos)
Launching State: Soviet Union/Russia
Location: Sea of Rains
Latitude: 38.238
Longitude: -34.997
Launch Date: 10 November 1970, 14:40:01 UT
Landing Date: 17 November 1970, 06:28 UT
Objects on or Related to Site:
Luna 17
Lunokhod 1
Image Source: NASA

Description

Luna 17 was designed to deliver a robotic rover called “Lunokhod 1” to the lunar surface. The rover was to travel to various locations under the real-time control of operators on Earth and conduct tests on the lunar soil for 3 lunar days (about 3 Earth months).

Read more:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-17/in-depth/

Heritage Consideration

This mission deployed the first robotic rover onto the surface of the Moon. The rover, Lunakhod 1, operated for 11 lunar days, the equivalent of 322 Earth days. It traveled more than 10 km across the lunar surface, during which it transmitted more than 20,000 TV images and 206 high-resolution panoramas, performed 25 soil analyses with its spectrometer, and used a penetrometer to test the soil’s mechanical characteristics at more than 500 locations.

Object on or Related to Site

Object Name: Luna 17
Cospar: 1970-095A
Norad: N/A
Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed.
Launch Date: 10 November 1970, 14:40:01 UTC
Landing Date: 17 November 1970, 06:28 UTC
Deployment: N/A
End Date: N/A
Function: N/A
Image Source: NASA

Description

Information needed.

Object on or Related to Site

Object Name: Lunokhod 1
Cospar: 1970-095A
Norad: N/A
Location: 38.316,-35.004
Launch Date: 10 November 1970, 14:40:01 UTC
Landing Date: 17 November 1970, 06:28 UTC
Deployment: N/A
End Date: N/A
Function: N/A
Image Source: NASA

Description

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 (in case one was blocked by a boulder) to enable the rover to disembark onto the Moon’s surface. The 756-kilogram rover stood about 1.35 meters high and was 2.15 meters across. Each of its eight wheels could be controlled independently for two forward and two reverse speeds. Its top speed was about 100 meters per hour, 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 midcourse 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°deg; west longitude, about 2,500 kilometers from the Luna 16 site in the Sea of Rains. The Lunokhod 1 rover rolled over one of the ramps and onto the lunar surface at 06:28 UT.

Suggested
Suggested contents and articles.
Suggested Contents
Luna 21: Lunar Landing
Luna 21's mission was to deliver the rover Lunokhod 2 to the Moon. 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.
Luna 20: Lunar Landing
Luna 20 was to conduct the mission that Luna 18 was unable to complete: obtain a soil sample from the lunar highlands and bring it to Earth for comparison with Luna 16's sample from a site that was thought to be geologically different.
Luna 18: Lunar Landing
The goals of Luna 18 was to collect lunar samples and bring them back to Earth.
Comments
All comments.
Comments