Luna 16: Lunar Landing – For All Moonkind Moon Registry

Mission Details

Mission Name: Luna 16

Mission Type: Lunar Lander

Operator: Soviet Union (Roscosmos)

Launching State: Soviet Union/Russia

Location: Mare Fecunditatis

Latitude: -0.513

Longitude: 56.364

Launch Date: 12 September 1970, 13:25:53 UT

Landing Date: 20 September 1970, 05:18 UT

Objects on or Related to Site:
Luna 16

Image Source: NASA

Description

The mission of Luna 16 was to drill out a sample core from the Moon’s surface and return it to Earth.

Heritage Consideration

Luna 16 was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample to Earth. It returned 101 grams.

Object on or Related to Site

Object Name: Luna 16
Cospar: 1969-058A
Norad: N/A
Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed.
Launch Date: 12 September 1970, 13:25:53 UT
Landing Date: 20 September 1970, 05:18 UT
Deployment: N/A
End Date: N/A
Function: Lunar sample return.
Image Source: NASA

Description

The spacecraft consisted of two attached stages, an ascent stage mounted on top of a descent stage.

The descent stage was a cylindrical body with four protruding landing legs, fuel tanks, a landing radar, and a dual descent engine complex. A main descent engine was used to slow the craft until it reached a cutoff point which was determined by the onboard computer based on altitude and velocity. After cutoff a bank of lower thrust jets was used for the final landing. The descent stage also acted as a launch pad for the ascent stage.

The ascent stage was a smaller cylinder with a rounded top. It carried a cylindrical hermetically sealed soil sample container inside a re-entry capsule. The spacecraft descent stage was equipped with a television camera, radiation and temperature monitors, telecommunications equipment, and an extendable arm with a drilling rig for the collection of a lunar soil sample.