Another chapter in the long history of 55 years of man in space.
Probe 3
On July 18, 1965, Zonde 3 was launched, an interstellar spacecraft (as defined by the Russians on the day of the launch). On her way to her destination she passed near the moon, photographed and measured it. The weight of the spacecraft is 950 kg. She took 25 photographs of the moon. To carry out this mission, the spacecraft was equipped with a special camera and television system. The uniqueness of these systems is that they protected the film from the destructive effects of cosmic radiation. The photographic film (25 mm) was a special film developed for this task. The photographs were broadcast nine days after the shooting when the spacecraft was 2.2 million km away. The rebroadcast of the photographs was done at a distance of 31.5 million km.
The lunar transit was made over the south of its equatorial plane. This flight path allowed the spacecraft to cover a significant part of the south of the moon that is invisible from Earth. Probe 3 began photographing the moon when it was 11,568 km away from it, it passed over its hidden side, lowering its distance from its ground to 9,219 km and raising it again. In her photographs she covered all the areas that Luna 3 did not photograph.
In its photographs, the spacecraft discovered new details about the surface of the moon, especially those concerning the material of which the surface of the moon is composed. The photographs confirmed the assumption that the number of "days" on his hidden side is smaller. The visible northern hemisphere is covered with a greater number of "seas", the hidden hemisphere is a wide continent with a large number of craters. This area is wider and larger than that of the visible southern hemisphere.
New forms were discovered on the hidden side. Chains of craters stretching for hundreds of kilometers and shapes resembling "seas" - thalasseoids - with a diameter of 487 km or more. Several chains of craters, whose lines are clearly visible due to their brightness, extend south of the "Eastern Sea" and are over 585 km long. The slopes of the mountains are colorless and smaller than those seen on the visible side. The dominant landscape is craters. In the hidden hemisphere there are more than 1,000 craters divided into two types. Craters with horns coming out of them and craters with mountains in the center. The craters are of medium size between 2.5 and 29 km.
On the right side of the photographs you can see a dark area that is also visible from Earth and is known as the "Eastern Sea". The size of the area became clear only from these photographs. Near the "Eastern Sea" are the "Atmanian Sea" and the "Varis Sea". Two more dark areas were discovered in this area. The lunar researchers assumed, based on the observations, that there should be another sea named "The Flat Sea" to the south of the "Eastern Sea". This assumption was confirmed by the photographs of Zond 3. The photographs of Luna 3 and Zond 3 showed that 40% of the visible side is covered by "seas" and 10% of the hidden side is also covered by "seas", but they are higher and brighter.
Probe 5
The first Russian spacecraft that was returned to Israel from lunar orbit was Zond 5. On September 14, 1978, Zond 5 was launched and it returned on September 21. This flight was done in two stages: in the first stage, the spacecraft was put into a stationary earth orbit and all its systems were tested. When it became clear that all the systems were working, the second stage was started, which is the flight to the moon. The spacecraft is similar to the Soyuz spacecraft and has two parts: one part is an equipment compartment with temperature regulation systems, power supply sources, a stabilization system and a rocket engine case. The second part is the one that is returned to Israel. This cabin has thermal cooling, a camera, radio, telemetry, an instrument cabin with navigation engines, sun visors, a scientific case and parachutes for landing.
Probe 5 approached within 1,950 km of the moon, photographed it and performed scientific measurements. The spacecraft transmitted television pictures and then also wireless transmissions, speech, sentences and numbers. The last experiment was done on the way to Israel. These sentences were pre-recorded and were intended to test contact with astronauts near the moon or on its surface. Biological experiments were also conducted with turtles, fruit flies, worms and seeds. The Earth was photographed from a distance of 90,000 km.
Probe 5 flew to the moon on the "free return" path. This means that it was aimed close enough to the moon that its gravity acted on it without capturing it. The pull was strong enough to deflect the flight path back to Earth. The spacecraft landed on September 21 without braking engines. Its entry into the atmosphere was ballistic without lift assistance. First it was slowed down by air resistance and then by parachutes. The first parachute opens at a height of 7 km above the ground with a speed of 12 km per minute. 14 minutes after the return, the spacecraft landed in the Indian Ocean on September 22. The spacecraft was put on the oceanographic research ship "Vasily Golonius", and from there it was brought to Bombay in India. Here she was put on a plane and sent to the Soviet Union.
Probe 6
On November 10, 1968, Probe 6 was launched. Like its predecessor, it reached the moon on the "free return path". It passed the moon on November 14, and on November 17 it landed in the territory of the Soviet Union. The purpose of the flight was to improve the automatic functions of a manned flight to the moon. The weight of the spacecraft is 2,720 kg. To enter this path, two orbit corrections were made, one at a distance of 120,000 km from Earth and the other at a distance of 235,000 km. On November 14, it passed behind the moon when it was 2,420 km from the ground while photographing its face, including the hidden side on film and not through a television broadcast. As in Zond 5, it also had a live charge, although more developed.
The spacecraft also tested the physical properties of the region near the moon. A more complicated and better method for landing that reduces the tension caused by gravity during the return to the ground was tested. Instead of using braking engines that burden the spaceship with both their weight and the weight of the fuel needed to operate them, the slowing of the spaceship's motion towards the soft landing is done by friction in the atmosphere. Apollo 8 also used atmospheric friction to initially slow down its speed before opening the parachutes. Apollo 8 entered the atmosphere once and Probe 6 did so twice, achieving considerable deceleration.
The shape of Probe 6 after the unnecessary parts were separated from it and its approach to the Earth was that of a truncated cone. Its position in relation to its flight path could be changed with the help of small navigation engines. Because of the heating of the spaceship when it entered the atmosphere, there was no possibility of communication between it and the control center. Therefore, it was necessary to direct the spacecraft using facilities found inside it. The spacecraft entered the atmosphere at the right angle, traveled some distance inside the atmosphere, slowing its speed from 36,000 km/h to 25,000 km/h and sprang out again in a free flight trajectory. At this point, the navigation engines were activated which directed her into the atmosphere at a steeper angle. When the spacecraft reached a height of 10 km from the ground, its speed was 450 km/h. At that moment the parachutes opened and the spaceship landed in a predetermined area in Kazakhstan.
This method they used is called the tracking technique and is related to the following aerodynamic lift to ensure a safe and controlled return of a spacecraft moving towards Earth at escape velocity. The spacecraft is partially slowed down by the aerodynamic resistance. Aerodynamic lift is then created which allows the path to be raised above the atmosphere. At this point the spacecraft can return for good for landing or land once more. The purpose of the maneuver is to slow down the spacecraft and in the monitoring that followed, it was possible to disperse the heat charges by radiation. The aerodynamic lift also allows great freedom of maneuver in choosing the landing site. The flight path of Zonde 6 allowed the speed to be reduced from 40,000 km/h to 27,000 km/h at the peak of detection. The spacecraft then glides until the parachutes open. The findings of probe 6 showed that the cosmic radiation on the moon is not dangerous for humans.
Probe 7
On August 8, 1969, Zond 7 was launched. It differed from its predecessors in that it carried more sophisticated equipment. The weight of the spacecraft was 2,720 kg. It also had turtles. Her flight path was the same as her predecessors. On August 11, she circled the moon and studied it and its surroundings, photographed it for mapping purposes and in the process selected landing sites for manned spacecraft. The hidden side was photographed from a distance of 2,000 km. Color photographs of the Earth and the Moon were also taken. In this flight, devices suitable for manned landings were also tested, thus this flight should be seen as preparation for manned landings on the surface. On August 14, Zond 7 landed in Kazakhstan in the Soviet Union. The spacecraft returned to Earth with the help of the moon's gravity and not with the help of its engines. The landing method is the same as that of Zonde 6.
Probe 8
Zond 8 was launched on October 21, 1970. The purpose of the flight was to perform various experiments:
1. Flight to the moon and its orbit in the same orbit as the previous spacecraft and photographing it. The moon was photographed from a distance of 1,120 km.
2. Photograph the Earth. These photographs are in color and will be broadcast to Israel.
3. Check the spacecraft systems.
When Zond 8 finished its mission, it returned to Israel and on October 27 landed in the Indian Ocean. This time the entry into the atmosphere was made from the northern and not the southern hemisphere. Entry from the south allows landing in the Soviet Union.
Unofficial moon missions that failed
1. January 4, 1963 - A lunar spacecraft was launched into a terrestrial parking orbit. Re-ignition failed and the spacecraft remained in orbit around Earth.
2. February 5, 1963 – the spacecraft's booster failed. The spacecraft fell into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
3. 1968 - An attempt was made to launch a spacecraft to the moon, collect soil samples and return to Israel. The attempt failed.
4. May 1969 - the launcher exploded after launch.
5. June 1969 – The launcher exploded after launch.
6. September 23, 1969 - On this day the Cosmos 300 spacecraft was launched. It had to reach the moon and it failed to reach it. It entered an orbit around the Earth whose distance from the ground is 208-190 km, the angle of inclination is 51.5 degrees and the duration of the orbit is 88.2 minutes.
7.22. October 1969, 305- On this day Cosmos 205 was launched. It was supposed to reach the moon and it didn't either. It entered an orbit around the earth whose distance from the ground is 193-51.5 km, the inclination angle is XNUMX degrees.
8. April 1973 - a lunar spacecraft probably with a Lohnud crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
