1972 lunar sample retrieval mission as part of the USSR's Luna program
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Luna 20
Luna 20 as seen from orbit by the LRO in 2010
Mission type
Lunar sample return
Operator
Soviet space program
COSPAR ID
1972-007A
SATCAT no.
5835
Mission duration
11 days (day of launch to day of landing)
Spacecraft properties
Bus
Ye-8-5
Manufacturer
GSMZ Lavochkin
Launch mass
5,725 kilograms (12,621 lb)[1]
Dry mass
5,600 kilograms (12,300 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date
14 February 1972, 03:27:58 (1972-02-14UTC03:27:58Z) UTC[1]
Rocket
Proton-K/D
Launch site
Baikonur 81/24
End of mission
Landing date
25 February 1972, 19:19 (1972-02-25UTC19:20Z) UTC
Landing site
47°24′N68°36′E / 47.400°N 68.600°E / 47.400; 68.600,[2] 40 km north of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan
Luna 20 was the second of three successful Soviet lunar sample return missions. It was flown as part of the Luna program as a robotic competitor to the six successful Apollo lunar sample return missions.
Luna 20 was placed in an intermediate Earth parking orbit and from this orbit was sent towards the Moon. It entered lunar orbit on 18 February 1972. On 21 February 1972, Luna 20 soft landed on the Moon in a mountainous area known as the Terra Apollonius (or Apollonius highlands) near Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility), 120 km from where Luna 16 had landed.
While on the lunar surface, the panoramic television system was operated. Lunar samples were obtained by means of an extendable drilling apparatus. The ascent stage of Luna 20 was launched from the lunar surface on 22 February 1972 carrying 1.9 ounces (55 grams) of collected lunar samples in a sealed capsule.[4] It landed in the Soviet Union on 25 February 1972. The lunar samples were recovered the following day.
^ abSiddiqi, Asif (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016(PDF) (second ed.). NASA History Program Office. ISBN 9781626830431.
^"Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration" (PDF). p. 314.
^"Table of Anthropogenic Impacts and Spacecraft on the Moon".
^"In Depth | Luna 20". NASA Solar System Exploration. Archived from the original on 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
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