Luna 11

Launch data: Designation 02406 / 66078A Launch date 24 Aug 1966 - 08:03 UT Launch site B Launch vehicle Molniya 8K78M (N103-43) Satellite type  E-6LF n°101 (#) Mission Lunar orbiter Selenocentric orbit (Moon orbit) on Aug 27.91: Periselene / Aposelene 160 x 1200 km Eccentricity 0.215 Inclination 27° Orbital periode 178 min

Entered lunar orbit on August 27, 1966 - 21:49 UT
Lunar orbit: 163.5x1193.6 km, 178 min, 27°

Specifications: Prime contractor  GSMZ Lavochkin Operator   Mass at launch 1638 kg Dry Mass 1355 kg (incl. fuel) Dimension  2.7 long - 1.0 dia Basic shape  Cylinder Solar array   Mission duration 38 days. Last contact October 1, 1966 Lifetime indef.

A diagram of the Soviet's Luna 11 and 12 spacecraft.

Mission details:

• Luna 11 (E-6LF series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. It is also called Lunik 11. Luna 11 was launched towards the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and entered lunar orbit on 27 August 1966. The objectives of the mission included the study of:
  1. lunar gamma- and X-ray emissions in order to determine the Moon's chemical composition;
  2. lunar gravitational anomalies;
  3. the concentration of meteorite streams near the Moon; and,
  4. the intensity of hard corpuscular radiation near the Moon.
• A total of 137 radio transmissions and 277 orbits of the Moon were completed before the batteries failed on 1 October 1966.
• This subset of the "second-generation" Luna spacecraft, the Ye-6LF, was designed to take the first photographs of the surface of the Moon from lunar orbit. A secondary objective was to obtain data on mass concentrations ("mascons") on the Moon first detected by Luna 10. Using the basic Ye-6 bus, a suite of scientific instruments (plus an imaging system similar to the one used on Zond 3) replaced the small lander capsule used on the soft-landing flights. The resolution of the photos was reportedly 15 to 20 meters. A technological experiment included testing the efficiency of gear transmission in vacuum as a test for a future lunar rover. Luna 11, launched only two weeks after the U.S. Lunar Orbiter, successfully entered lunar orbit at 21:49 UT on 27 August. Parameters were 160 x 1,193 kilometers. During the mission, the TV camera failed to return usable images because the spacecraft lost proper orientation to face the lunar surface when a foreign object was lodged in the nozzle of one of the attitude-control thrusters. The other instruments functioned without fault before the mission formally ended on 1 October 1966 after the power supply had been depleted.