Mission Details
| Mission Name: Luna 20 |
| Mission Type: Lunar Lander |
| Operator: Soviet Union (Roscosmos) |
| Launching State: Soviet Union/Russia |
| Location: Apollonius Highlands |
| Latitude: 3.7863 |
| Longitude: 56.6242 |
| Launch Date: 14 February 1972, 03:27:59 UT |
| Landing Date: 21 February 1972, 19:19 UT |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Luna 20 |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
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.
Read more:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-20/in-depth/
Heritage Consideration
The spacecraft succeeded in returning a soil sample(55 grams) to Earth. Among other things, the sample was revealed to include very pure iron.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Luna 20 | |
| Cospar: 1972-007A | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. | |
| Launch Date: 14 February 1972, 03:27:59 UT | |
| Landing Date: 21 February 1972, 19:19 UT | |
| Deployment: N/A | |
| End Date: N/A | |
| Function: Lunar sample return. | |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Luna 16 and 20 were very similar in design and sampling method. A drill at the end of the sampling arm collected soil from a few tens of cm below the surface. The arm then placed the sample into the return capsule on top of the vehicle. The distinctive shadow seen in the LROC image of Luna 20 is most likely that of the sampling arm. The Luna 20 sample contained minerals similar to those sampled by the US Apollo 16 astronauts two months later from the Cayley plains (8°58″S, 15°30″E).
Luna 15 crashed about 9 miles (15 kilometers) laterally away and 28 miles (45 kilometers) ahead of its assumed location. Impact was roughly at 17 degrees north latitude and 60 degrees east longitude in Mare Crisium.
