Luna 10

Luna 10

Mission type	Lunar orbiter
COSPAR ID	1966-027A
SATCAT №	2126
Mission duration	60 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	E-6S
Manufacturer	GSMZ Lavochkin
Launch mass	1,582 kilograms (3,488 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	March 31, 1966, 10:48:00 (1966-03-31UTC10:48Z) UTC
Rocket	Molniya-M 8K78M
Launch site	Baikonur 31/6
End of mission
Last contact	May 30, 1966 (1966-05-31)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Selenocentric
Semi-major axis	2,413.0 kilometres (1,499.4 mi)
Eccentricity	0.14
Periselene	2,088 kilometres (1,297 mi)
Aposelene	2,738 kilometres (1,701 mi)
Inclination	71.9 degrees
Period	178.05 minutes
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertion	April 3, 1966, 18:44 UTC
Instruments
Magnetometer Gamma-ray spectrometer Five gas-discharge counters Two ion traps/charged particle trap Piezoelectric micrometeorite detector Infrared detector Low-energy x-ray photon counters

Luna 10 (E-6S series) was a 1966 Soviet Luna program, robotic spacecraft mission, also called Lunik 10. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.

The spacecraft

Scientific instruments included a gamma-ray spectrometer for energies between 0.3—3 MeV (50–500 pJ), a triaxial magnetometer, a meteorite detector, instruments for solar-plasma studies, and devices for measuring infrared emissions from the Moon and radiation conditions of the lunar environment. Gravitational studies were also conducted.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of the Moon’s magnetic field, its radiation belts, and the nature of lunar rocks (which were found to be comparable to terrestrial basalt rocks), cosmic radiation, and micrometeoroid density. Perhaps its most important finding was the first evidence of mass concentrations (called “mascons”)—areas of high density below the mare basins that distort lunar orbital trajectories. Their discovery has usually been credited to the American Lunar Orbiter series.

The flight

The Luna 10 spacecraft was launched towards the Moon from an Earth orbiting platform on March 31, 1966. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on April 3, 1966 and completed its first orbit 3 hours later (on April 4, Moscow time). After a midcourse correction on 1 April, Luna 10, the second of two hastily prepared Soviet Ye-6S probes (that is, the backup), successfully entered lunar orbit two days later at 18:44 UT. A 245-kilogram instrument compartment separated from the main bus, which was in a 350 x 1,000-kilometer orbit inclined at 71.9° to the lunar equator.
Luna 10 was battery powered and operated for 460 lunar orbits and 219 active data transmissions before radio signals were discontinued on May 30, 1966.

The Internationale

The spacecraft carried a set of solid-state oscillators that had been programmed to reproduce the notes of The Internationale, so that it could be broadcast live to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. During a rehearsal on the night of 3 April, the playback went well, but the following morning, controllers discovered a missing note and played the previous night’s tape to the assembled gathering at the Congress—claiming it was a live broadcast from the Moon.

• Launch Date/Time: 1966-03-31 at 10:48:00 UTC
• On-orbit dry mass: 540 kg

External links

• Zarya - Luna 10 chronology