The Zond 7 spacecraft, part of the Soviet Zond program, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969. Its mission was to support studies of the Moon and circunlunar space, to obtain color photography of Earth and the Moon from varying distances, and to flight test the spacecraft systems. It was an unpiloted version of the Soyuz 7K-L1, a crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft.
Earth photos were obtained on August 9, 1969. On August 11, 1969, the spacecraft flew past the Moon at a distance of 1984.6 km and conducted two picture taking sessions. On its way back from the Moon the spacecraft tested its radio systems by transmitting recorded voices.[3]
Zond 7 carried four turtles,[3][4] a follow-up to the September 1968 Zond 5 mission which carried two tortoises on a circumlunar lunar mission, and the November 1968 Zond 6 mission which also carried turtles.
A human-like tissue-equivalent phantom for radiation measurements was placed aboard. The phantom was equipped with 20 channels for radiation detectors (thermoluminescent glasses and nuclear photoemulsions) distributed along the whole body for measurement of doses in critical organs. The doses accumulated during the flight through the radiation belts and around the Moon were between 0.2 and 0.7 rad in different points at the depth of 3 g/cm2 from the body surface.[5]
Like other Zond circumlunar craft, Zond 7 used a relatively uncommon technique called skip reentry to shed velocity upon returning to Earth.
Of all circumlunar Soviet Zond craft launches, Zond 7 would have been the first to make a safe flight for a cosmonaut had it been crewed.
Zond 7 reentered Earth's atmosphere on August 14, 1969, and achieved a soft landing in a preset region south of Kustanai, Kazakhstan.
The return capsule is on display at the Dmitrov Facility of Bauman University in Orevo, Russia.
Zond 7 orbit, photographs of the Earth and the Moon on a USSR miniature sheet, 1969
A photograph of the Earth taken by Zond 7 on a postage stamp of the USSR in 1969
^ abcSiddiqi, Asif (2018). "Zond 7". Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016(PDF) (second ed.). NASA History Program Office. p. 91.
^"In Depth | Zond 7". NASA Solar System Exploration. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
^ abHarvey, Brian (2007). Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration. Springer-Praxis. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-0-387-21896-0.
^Sutulov, L. S.; Kulkin, S. G.; Saxonov, P. P.; Sutulov, J. L.; Konnova, N. I.; Truchina, L. V.; Severgina, E. S.; Samsonova, L. L.; Sonina, S. N.; Selivanova, T. V.; Solovyev, V. I. (1971). "Post-flight histological analysis of turtles aboard Zond 7". Life Sciences and Space Research. 9: 125–128. ISSN 0075-9422. PMID 11942356.
^Smirennyi, L. N.; Litvinova, E. G.; Khortsev, A. V. (1973). "Study of Spatial Distribution of Tissue Doses with the Aid of a Phantom-mannequin" (PDF). Proceedings of the Third International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association; Washington, DC, September 9–14, 1973. Oak Ridge, Tennessee: U. S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION. pp. 648–653. CONF 730907 P1.
The Zond7 spacecraft, part of the Soviet Zond program, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969. Its mission was to support...
Zond 5 (Russian: Зонд 5, lit. 'Probe 5') was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 it became the first spaceship to travel to and...
Zond (Russian: Зонд, lit. 'probe') was the name given to two distinct series of Soviet robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1970. The first series...
Zond program (Зонд; Russian for "probe") was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary...
Zond 6 was a formal member of the Soviet Zond program, and an unpiloted version of the Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft. It was launched on a...
Zond 2 was a Soviet space probe, a member of the Zond program, and was the sixth Soviet spacecraft to attempt a flyby of Mars. (See Exploration of Mars)...
of the Soviets with their Zond spacecraft program. The first three Zonds were robotic planetary probes; after that, the Zond name was transferred to a...
Zond 3 was a 1965 space probe which performed a flyby of the Moon's far side, taking a number of quality photographs for its time. It was a member of the...
Zond 8, also known as L-1 No.14, was the last in the series of circumlunar spacecraft, a member of the Soviet Zond program, designed to rehearse a piloted...
Zond 1 was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. It was the second Soviet research spacecraft to reach Venus, although communications had failed by...
landing, while Luna 10 became the first mission to enter orbit, and in 1968 Zond 5 became the first mission to carry lifeforms (tortoises) to close proximity...
form of non-ballistic atmospheric entry into the atmosphere, pioneered by Zond7, in which two phases of deceleration would expose human occupants to relatively...
These include tortoises on Zond 5 (September 1968), Zond 6 (November 1968), and Zond7 (August 1969), fruit flies on Zond 5, and five mice, Fe, Fi, Fo...
20 April 2019. "Zond7". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019. "In Depth | Zond7". Solar System Exploration:...
not yet been tried on a planetary mission, but the re-entry skip by Zond 6 and Zond7 upon lunar return were aerocapture maneuvers, because they turned...
the vicinity of the Moon. Turtles were also on the Zond 6 (1968) and the Zond7 (1969) circumlunar flights. 4th-century sculpture of turtle avatar of Vishnu...
plants were the first Earthlings to circle the Moon in September 1968 on the Zond 5 mission. In 1972, five mice nicknamed Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey orbited...
delays in achieving a reliable circumlunar flight (only the later Zond7 and Zond 8 members of the programme were successful) and the Apollo 8 mission...
propulsion to be flown in space, having flown on two Soviet probes (Zond 2 and Zond 3) starting in 1964. PPTs are generally flown on spacecraft with a...
exploration (1959–1976) Ranger program — US Lunar hard-landing probes (1961–1965) Zond program — USSR Lunar exploration (1964–1970) Surveyor program — US Lunar...
Road near its intersection with Grove End Road. The Soviet Union launched Zond7 on the first and only successful mission with the Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft...
During the run-up to the mission, the Soviets sent uncrewed probes Zond 4 and Zond 5 (Zond 5 carried two tortoises) around the Moon, seeming to foreshadow...
two programs in the 1960s: crewed lunar flyby missions using Soyuz 7K-L1 (Zond) spacecraft launched with the Proton-K rocket, and a crewed lunar landing...