Yesterday in engineering history, the Soviet Luna 9 was the
first spacecraft perform a soft-landing on the moon and transmit photographic
data back to Earth. The craft was dropped by a cylindrical mother craft, which was
destroyed after achieving its purpose. The Luna 9 landed in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum), the
western edge of the Earth's moon.
The station itself was a hermetically sealed, 99kg
container. Contained inside was radio equipment, a program timing device, heat
controlled systems, scientific apparatus, power sources, and a television
system. Upon landing, the petals that comprised the Luna 9, opened and
stabilized on the Moon's surface. Once the station was opened,
spring-controlled antennas moved into position, while the television camera
began surveying the lunar environment. When combined, the photos from the Luna
9 provide a panoramic view of the
lunar surface, including rocks and the horizon 1.4km away from the spacecraft.
The batteries ran out and contact with the Lunar 9 was lost on February 6th.
Although eight hours and five minutes of radio sessions and
three series of televised pictures were transmitted back to Earth, they were
not immediately released by the Soviets. Instead, the Jordrell Bank Observatory
that was monitoring the Luna 9 noticed that the signal format used by the
spacecraft was the same type internationally-agreed system used by newspapers
for transmitting pictures. A British newspaper, The Daily Express, sent
a receiver to the Observatory and published the photos world-wide.
Luna 9 was another Soviet victory against the United States
in the space race. The successful landing of the Luna 9 came after twelve
previous attempts of a soft-landings. The victory marked the beginning of the
Lavochkin Design Bureau, who would ultimately design and build almost all
Soviet and Russian spacecrafts.
Resources:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970907.html
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1966-006A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9
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