File:Luna_10_spacecraft.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Mission type
- Lunar orbiter
- Operator
- Soviet space program
- Cospar id
- 1966-027A
- Satcat number span no
- 02126
- Mission duration
- 60 days
- Spacecraft type
- E-6S
- Manufacturer
- GSMZ Lavochkin
- Launch mass
- 1,583.7 kg
- Dry mass
- 540 kg
- Launch date
- 31 March 1966, 10:46:59 UTC
- Rocket
- Molniya-M 8K78M
- Launch site
- Baikonur , Site 31/6
- Last contact
- 30 May 1966
- Reference system
- Selenocentric
- Periselene altitude
- 349 km
- Aposelene altitude
- 1015 km
- Inclination
- 71.9°
- Period
- 178.05 minutes
via Wikipedia infobox
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Luna 10 (Russian: Луна-10, lit. 'Moon-10') or Lunik 10 was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon, and any other body other than Earth and the Sun (in heliocentric orbit).
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of the Moon's magnetic field, its radiation belts, and the nature of lunar rocks (which were found to be comparable to terrestrial basalt rocks), cosmic radiation, and micrometeoroid density. Perhaps its most important finding was the first evidence of mass concentrations (called "mascons")—areas of denser material below the lunar surface that distort lunar orbital trajectories. The craft's gamma-ray spectrometer allowed the detection of radioactive uranium, thorium, and potassium-40 on the Moon.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Luna 10” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.