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The Soviet "Moon Programme"
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Luna03-26b.jpgThe Moon, from Luna-3128 visiteSe il 'Programma Marte' dell'Agenzia Spaziale Sovietica fu, a ben vedere - ed a nostro parere - un grande successo, il Programma Luna fu anche qualcosa di più: un grande successo senza dubbio (e come vedrete) ma anche una grande "incompiuta".
Il "Fratello Sovietico" del vettore USA Saturno V, proprio al momento del lancio (che avrebbe portato due Cosmonauti Sovietici sulla Luna con un leggero anticipo rispetto all'Apollo 11), si incendiò ed esplose sulla rampa (una colossale catastrofe che provocò decine di morti e della quale sappiamo ancora davvero poco). Fu da quel momento, probabilmente, che l'URSS alzò bandiera bianca e lasciò campo libero agli USA ed alla NASA.
Tuttavia, sebbene nessun Cosmonauta Sovietico riuscì a camminare sulla Luna, il Programma Lunare vide il completamento (con successo) di ben 20 Missioni.
Con questa serie di immagini andremo a vedere da vicino alcuni momenti delle Missioni URSS coronate dal successo e ci accorgeremo (ancora una volta) di come la nostra tecnologia fosse già molto avanzata, sin dalla metà degli Anni '60...
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Luna03-27farside.JPGThe Far-Side of the Moon121 visiteThe Soviet Lunar Programme had 20 successful missions to the Moon and achieved a number of notable lunar "firsts": first probe to impact the Moon, first Fly-By and image of the Lunar Far-Side, first soft landing, first Lunar Orbiter and the first circumlunar probe to return to Earth. The two successful series of Soviet Probes were the Luna (24 Missions) and the Zond (5 Missions).
All the data gathered from the successful Missions were photographic in nature, except for the Lunar Libration data from the Luna 21 Orbiter. Lunar Fly-By Missions (Luna 3, Zond 3, 6, 7, 8) obtained photographs of the Lunar Surface, particularly the limb and Far-Side Regions. The Zond 6, 7 and 8 Missions circled the Moon and returned to Earth where they were recovered: Zond 6 and 7 in Siberia and Zond 8 in the Indian Ocean. The purpose of the photography experiments on the Lunar Landers (Luna 9, 13, 22) was to obtain closeup images of the surface of the Moon for use in lunar studies and determination of the feasibility of manned lunar landings.
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Luna09-DailyExpress.jpgThe surface of Oceanus Procellarum215 visiteThe List:
Luna 1: launched on January, 2, 1959 - Lunar Fly-By;
Luna 2: launched on September, 12, 1959 - Impacted Moon on Sept. 14, 1959 at ~07:30:00 UT (Lat. 29,10° N; Long. 0.00 - Palus Putredinis);
Luna 3: launched on October, 4, 1959 - Lunar Fly-by;
Luna 4: launched on April, 2, 1963 - Lunar Fly-By;
Luna 5: launched on May, 9, 1965 - Impacted Moon (Mare Nubium);
Luna 6: launched on June, 8, 1965 - Attempted Lander - Missed Moon;
Luna 7: launched on October, 4, 1965 - Lunar Impact - Oceanus Procellarum;
Luna 8: launched on December,3, 1965 - Lunar Impact - Oceanus Procellarum;
Luna 9: launched on January, 31, 1966 - Landed on the Moon on Feb., 3, 1966, at 18:44:52 UT (Lat. 7,08° N; Long. 295,63° E - Oceanus Procellarum);
Luna 10: launched on March, 31, 1966 - LO
Luna 11: launched on August, 24, 1966 - LO
Luna 12: launched on October, 22, 1966 - LO
Luna 13: launched on December, 21, 1966 - Landed on the Moon on Dec., 24, 1966 at 18:01:00 UT (Lat. 18,87° N; 297,95° E - Oceanus Procellarum).
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Luna12-1.jpgLunar Surface from Luna 12 (1)138 visiteLuna 14: launched on April, 7, 1968 - LO;
Luna 15: launched on Julu, 13, 1969 - LO;
Luna 16: launched on September, 12, 1970 - Landed on the Moon on the 20th of Sept. 1970 at 05:18:00 UT (Lat. 0,68° S; Long. 56,30° E - Mare Fecunditatis - Lunar Sample Return);
Luna 17: launched on November, 10, 1970 - Landed on the Moon on the 17th at 03:47:00 UT (Lat. 38,28° N; Long. 325,00° E - Mare Imbrium - tested Lunar Rover "Lunokhod 1");
Luna 18: launched on September, 1971 - Lunar Impact at Lat. 3,57° N; Long. 50,50° E - Mare Fecunditatis;
Luna 19 - launched on September, 28, 1971 - LO
Luna 20 - launched on February, 14, 1972 - landed on the Moon on the 21st at 19:19:00 UT (Lat. 3,57° N; Long. 56,50° E - Mare Fecunditatis -
Lunar Sample Return to Earth on February 25, 1972);
Luna 21: launched on January, 8, 1973 - Landed on the Moon on the 15th at 23:35:00 UT (Lat. 25,85° N; Long. 30,45° E - LeMonnier Crater; released Lunar Rover "Lunokhod 2").
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Luna12-2.jpgLunar Surface from Luna 12 (2)125 visiteLuna 22: launched on June, 2, 1974 - LO;
Luna 23: launched on October, 28, 1974 - Landed in Mare Crisium;
Luna 24: launched on August, 14, 1976 - Landed on the Moon on the18th at 02:00:00 UT (Lat. 12,75° N; Long. 62,20° E - Mare Crisium - Lunar Sample Return).
Zond 3: launched on July, 18, 1965 - Lunar Fly-By;
Zond 4: launched on March, 2, 1968 - Lunar Test Flight;
Zond 5: launched on September, 15, 1968 - Circumlunar - returned to Earth on the 21st of September, 1968;
Zond 6: launched on November, 10, 1968 - Circumlunar - returned to Earth on the 17th of November;
Zond 7: launched on August, 7, 1969 - Circumlunar - returned to Earth on the 14th of August;
Zond 8: launched on October, 20, 1970 - Circumlunar - returned to Earth on the 27th of October
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Luna13-1.jpgOceanus Procellarum179 visiteThe Luna 13 spacecraft was launched toward the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and accomplished a soft landing on December 24, 1966, in the Region of Oceanus Procellarum. The petal encasement of the spacecraft was opened, antennas were erected, and radio transmissions to Earth began 4 minutes after the landing. On December 25 and 26, 1966, the spacecraft television system transmitted panoramas of the nearby Lunar Landscape at different Sun angles and each panorama required approx. 100' to transmit. The spacecraft was equipped with a mechanical soil-measuring penetrometer, a dynamograph and a radiation densitometer for obtaining data on the mechanical/physical properties of the Lunar Surface as well as of and the cosmic-ray reflectivity.
Luna 13 transmitted 5 cycloramas over a period of 5/6 days.
It is believed that transmissions from the spacecraft ceased before the end of December 1966.
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Luna17-Horz01.jpgMare Imbrium: the Rover is leaving the "nest"...261 visiteLuna-17 landed on the Moon on November 15, 1970. The robotic rover, Lunokhod-1 rolled off the landing platform to explore the surface of the Moon for about a month. Two cycloramic cameras on either side of the rover were oriented for 180° horizontal panoramas (500×3000 pixels). These panoramas are sometimes geometrically warped to correct for the 15° tilt of the camera. Two other cameras were oriented for 360° vertical panoramas of 500×6000 pixels, including images of the sky, for star locations. A level indicator was placed below these cameras, with a bull's eye pattern and a small metal ball bearing.
Over 200 panoramas were returned. Two cameras transmitted simultaneously, on 130 and 190 KHz subcarriers. Analysis of these images was carried out by the Sternberg Astronomical Institute (SAI), the Vernadskii Geophysical Institute (GEOKhI), and the Space Research Institute (IKI). The cameras were built by Arnold Selivanov's Team.
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Luna17-Horz02.jpgTracks on the Moon276 visiteAs with many Soviet space images, generation loss prevents us from seeing the original quality. Most Lunokhod images are derived from scanning printed images or second-generation film copies.
Each stage of photography, printing and scanning introduces noise, nonlinear brighness mapping, and (worst of all) clamping to white or black.
As a matter of fact, all these images only hint at the appearance of the original video signal.
Nota: oltre le tecnicalità sulla fotografia, guardate attentamente il "nido" e le "tracce" lasciate dal Rover Lunokhod-1. Eravamo nel 1970, in piena Era Apollo, lontanissimi dai giorni di Spirit ed Opportunity eppure...eppure la tecnologia di Spirit ed Opportunity c'era già: davanti a noi, in queste immagini, e sulla Luna.
Le considerazioni - inevitabili - che seguono, già le conoscete...
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Luna17-Horz03-a.jpgThe "Nest" of Lunokhod-1221 visitenessun commento
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Luna17-Horz03-b.jpgThe "Tracks" - again - of Lunokhod-1176 visiteLuna 17 was launched from an Earth parking orbit towards the Moon and entered lunar orbit on November 15, 1970. The spacecraft soft landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains. The spacecraft had dual ramps by which the payload, Lunokhod-1, descended to the Lunar Surface. Lunokhod-1 was a lunar vehicle formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently powered wheels. Lunokhod-1 was equipped with a cone-shaped antenna, a highly directional helical antenna, 4 tv cameras and special extendable device to impact the lunar soil for soil density and mechanical property tests. An X-Ray spectrometer, an X-Ray telescope, cosmic-ray detectors and a laser device were also included. The vehicle was powered by a solar cell array mounted on the underside of the lid. Lunokhod-1 was intended to operate through 3 Lunar Days but actually operated for 11! The operations of Lunokhod-1 officially ceased on October, 4, 1971, the anniversary of Sputnik 1. Lunokhod1- traveled 10,54 Km and transmitted more than 20,000 TV pictures and more than 200 TV panoramas. It had also conducted more than 500 lunar soil tests.
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Luna17-Horz09-a.jpgThe "Nest" of Lunokhod-1 (close detail)197 visitenessun commento
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Luna17-Horz09-b.jpgLarge depression and Rover tracks167 visiteUn'immagine molto importante poichè ci mostra, in maniera più che discreta, sullo sfondo verso la Vostra Dx, le tracce lasciate dal Rover Lunokhod-1.
Esse, oltre a dimostrare che il Rover si mosse in lungo ed in largo sulla superficie di questa zona del Mare Imbrium, ci dicono pure che questo antenato di Spirit ed Opportunity riuscì, diremmo senza difficoltà, ad attraversare una sensibile depressione del terreno: una prova ulteriore dell'elevata qualità del Rover, dei suoi sistemi di guida remota e delle sue notevolissime capacità di movimento.
Se Vi chiedeste come facciamo a dire che Lunokhod-1 non ebbe problemi ad attraversare la depressione lunare che si vede in questo frame, Vi diciamo che lo abbiamo dedotto dalla linearità delle tracce da esso lasciate sul terreno. Tracce che ci suggeriscono una guida spedita e per nulla indecisa. Le zone più "smosse" della Superficie Lunare, invece, ci indicano, i punti di stazionamento, di (eventuale) slittamento e di sosta per l'esecuzione di esperimenti del Rover.
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