Luna 11
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| Organization: | Soviet Union |
| Major Contractors: | GSMZ Lavochkin |
| Mission Type: | Planetary Science Lunar Orbit |
| Satellite of: | Moon |
| Launch: | August 24, 1966 at 08:03:00 UTC |
| Launch Vehicle: | Molniya 8K78M (4-Stage R-7 / SS-6) |
| Mission Highlight: | Entered lunar orbit on August 27, 1966, 21:49 UTC. |
| Mission Duration: | 38-days. Last contact October 1, 1966 |
| Mass: | 1,640 kg |
| NSSDC ID: | 1966-078A |
| Webpage: | NASA NSSDC Master Catalog |
| Orbital elements | |
|---|---|
| Semimajor Axis: | 2,414.5 km |
| Eccentricity: | .22 |
| Inclination: | 27° |
| Orbital Period: | 178 minutes |
| Aposelene: | 2,931 km |
| Periselene: | 1,898 km |
| Orbits: | 277 |
| Instruments | |
| Imaging system : | Lunar photography |
| Gamma-ray spectrometer : | |
| Magnetometer : | |
| Radiation detectors : | |
| Infrared radiometer : | |
| Meteoroid detector : | |
| R-1 transmission experiment : | |
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:
- lunar gamma- and X-ray emissions in order to determine the Moon's chemical composition;
- lunar gravitational anomalies;
- the concentration of meteorite streams near the Moon; and,
- 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.
- Launch Date/Time: 1966-08-24 at 08:09:00 UTC
- On-orbit dry mass: 3616 kg
| Preceded by Luna 1966A |
Luna programme | Succeeded by Luna 12 |
| Luna programme |
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| Luna 1958A | Luna 1958B | Luna 1958C | Luna 1 | Luna 1959A | Luna 2 | Luna 3 | Luna 1960A | Luna 1960B | Sputnik 25 | Luna 1963B | Luna 4 | Luna 1964A | Luna 1964B | Cosmos 60 | Luna 1965A | Luna 5 | Luna 6 | Luna 7 | Luna 8 | Luna 9 | Cosmos 111 | Luna 10 | Luna 1966A | Luna 11 | Luna 12 | Luna 13 | Luna 1968A | Luna 14 | Luna 1969A | Luna 1969B | Luna 1969C | Luna 15 | Cosmos 300 | Cosmos 305 | Luna 1970A | Luna 1970B | Luna 16 | Luna 17 | Luna 18 | Luna 19 | Luna 20 | Luna 21 | Luna 22 | Luna 23 | Luna 1975A | Luna 24 | ||||
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