ZOND-3: the Spacecraft

Zond 3 was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (65-056B) Earth orbiting platform towards the Moon and Interplanetary Space on July, 18, 1965. The spacecraft was equipped with an f106 mm camera and TV system that provided automatic inflight film processing. On July 20, Lunar Fly-by occurred approximately 33 hours after launch and at a closest approach of 9200 Km. 25 pictures of very good quality were taken of the Lunar Far-Side from distances of 11.570 to 9960 Km over a period of about 68'.
The photos covered 19.000.000 square-Km of the Lunar Surface.
Photo transmissions by facsimile were returned to Earth from a distance of 2,2 MKM and were retransmitted from a distance of 31,5 MKM (some signals still being transmitted from the distance of the orbit of Mars), thus proving the ability of the communications system.

After the Lunar Fly-by, Zond 3 continued its space exploration moving in a heliocentric orbit.