SPACE VEHICLES CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN CIRCULAR SPACE AND ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON
The table contains the name of the apparatus, the country from which the launch was carried out, the date of the launch and brief information about the scientific research carried out. Particular attention should be paid to the landing sites of spacecraft in various regions. lunar surface... These sites, studied in detail directly on the Moon, serve as reference sites for studying the lunar surface by methods of astronomy, geology, geochemistry and geophysics. It will be useful for an observer, when familiarizing himself with the lunar surface, to identify the landing sites of various spacecraft on it in accordance with the data given in the table. The sites in which the studies on the Moon were carried out are relatively small in size. Therefore, it is impossible to directly compare the results of observations from the Earth using amateur telescopes with low resolution with data obtained directly on the Moon. However, some indirect comparison is quite possible. For example, using a number of spacecraft directly on the Moon or by analyzing samples delivered to Earth, the average chemical composition rocks in different areas The moon. These data can generally be considered representative of the surface surrounding the landing site. You can compare the differences in the reflectivity of such places, and with sufficient observational skill, and their color shades with the types of rocks that make up the surface layers.
The samples delivered to Earth have been used to determine the average absolute age of rocks in various regions of the visible hemisphere of the Moon. This information can be correlated with morphological features observed landforms, try to detect visible signs the different times of the formation of the studied places.
| Spacecraft name | Launch date | |
| "Luna-1" of the USSR | On January 4, 1959, the station passed at a distance of 5000-6000 km from the Moon. Studies of interplanetary space along the flight path and near the Moon have been carried out. |
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| "Luna-2" of the USSR | On September 13, 1959, the station reached the lunar surface in the area with coordinates: 0 ° d., 30 ° n. NS. On the flight route, interplanetary space was explored. |
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| "Luna-3" of the USSR | On October 7, 1959, a survey was carried out back side Moon from a distance of about 70,000 km, images are transmitted to Earth via radio communication channels. |
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| "Luna-4" of the USSR | ||
| Ranger 6 USA | ||
| Ranger 7 USA | On July 31, 1964, the device reached the lunar surface in Poznanny More in the area with coordinates: 20 "36" w. d., 10 ° 36 "S. From distances from 2110 km to 439 m, images of the surface were obtained and transmitted to the Earth. In the last frames, details up to 0.25 m in size are distinguishable. |
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| Ranger 8 USA | February 20, 1965 reached the lunar surface in the Sea of Tranquility in the area with coordinates: 24 ° 48 "E, 2 ° 36" N. NS. From distances from 2510 km to 160 m, surface images were obtained and transmitted to the Earth. In the last frames, details up to 1.5 m in size are discernible. |
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| Ranger 9 USA | March 24, 1965 reached the lunar surface in the crater Alphonse in the area with coordinates: 2 ° 24 "W, 12 ° 54" S. NS. From a distance of 2363 km to 600 m, images of the surface were obtained and transmitted to the Earth. In the last frames, details up to 0.3 m in size are distinguished. |
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| "Luna-5" of the USSR | On May 12, 1965, the station reached the lunar surface, a soft landing system was being tested. |
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| "Luna-6" of the USSR | Practicing a soft landing. |
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| "Zond-3" USSR | On July 20, 1965, images of the far side of the Moon were received and transmitted to Earth from a distance of about 10,000 km; a preliminary survey of the lunar ball surface was completed. |
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| "Luna-7" of the USSR | Practicing a soft landing. |
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| "Luna-8" of the USSR | Practicing a soft landing. |
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| "Luna-9" of the USSR | On February 3, 1966, a soft landing was made on the western edge of the Ocean of Storms - in the area with coordinates: 64 "22" w. d., 7 ° 08 "n, w. The first panoramas of the lunar surface with a resolution of up to 1 mm were obtained, photometric measurements of the reflectivity of the soil were carried out. |
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| "Luna-10" of the USSR | The station was launched into ISL orbit. Comprehensive orbital studies of the Moon and circumlunar space - radiation and meteorite conditions, gravitational field, X-ray, infrared and gamma-radiation of the Moon, magnetometric measurements were carried out. |
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| "Surveyor-1" USA | On June 2, 1966, the spacecraft made a soft landing north of Flamsteed crater in the area with coordinates: 43 ° 14 "W, 2 ° 28" S. NS. Images of the lunar surface were transferred to the Earth, and studies of the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the soil were carried out. |
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| Lunar Orbiter-1 USA | The spacecraft was launched into ISL orbit, images of the lunar surface were received and transmitted to Earth. |
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| "Luna-11" of the USSR | ISL Comprehensive studies of the Moon and near-lunar space from orbit |
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| "Surveyor-2" USA | ||
| "Luna-12" of the USSR | ISL Comprehensive studies of the Moon and the lunar space were continued, photographs of the surface were carried out, the images were transmitted to the Earth. |
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| Lunar Orbiter-2 USA | ||
| "Luna-13" of the USSR | On December 24, 1966, a soft landing was made in the Ocean of Storms in the area with coordinates: 63 ° 03 "W, 18 ° 52" N. NS. Panoramas of the surface were obtained, physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil were measured. |
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| Lunar Orbiter-3 USA | ISL. The surface was photographed, the images were transferred to the Earth. |
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| "Surveyor-3" USA | On April 20, 1967, a soft landing was made in the Ocean of Storms in the area with coordinates: 23 ° 20 "W, 2 ° 59" S. NS. Images of the surface were obtained, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties soil. |
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| Lunar Orbiter-4 USA | ISL. The surface was photographed, the images were transferred to the Earth. |
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| "Surveyor-4" USA | ||
| "Explorer-35" USA | ISL. Study of the lunar space. |
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| Lunar Orbiter-5 USA | ISL. The surface was photographed, the images were transferred to the Earth; studies of the circumlunar space have been carried out. |
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| "Surveyor-5" USA | On September 11, 1967, a soft landing was made in the Sea of Tranquility in the area with coordinates: 23 ° 12 "east longitude, 1 ° 25" n. NS. Images of the surface were obtained, the physical and mechanical properties and the chemical composition of the soil were investigated. |
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| Surveyor-6 USA | On November 10, 1967, a soft landing was made in the Central Gulf in the area with coordinates: 1 ° 23 "east longitude, 0 ° 31" n. NS. Images of the surface were obtained, the physical and mechanical properties and the chemical composition of the soil were investigated. |
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| Surveyor-7 USA | On January 10, 1968, a soft landing was made to the north of the Tycho crater in the area with coordinates: 11 ° 27 "W, 40 ° 53" S. NS. Images of the surface were obtained, the physical and mechanical properties and the chemical composition of the soil were investigated. |
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| "Luna-14" of the USSR | ISL. Continuation of studies of the gravitational field of the Moon and circumlunar space. |
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| "Zond-5" USSR | A flyby of the Moon with the return of the spacecraft to Earth. On September 21, the station splashed down at Indian Ocean... Research along the flight path was carried out, images of the Earth from large distances were obtained. |
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| "Zond-6" USSR | Orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth. Photographs of the lunar surface received on November 17 and delivered to Earth. |
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| Apollo 8 USA | Flight along the Earth - Moon - Earth spacecraft with a crew. The lunar surface was photographed from a circumlunar orbit. |
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| Apollo 10 USA | Flight along the Earth - Moon - Earth spacecraft with a crew. The lunar surface was photographed from a circumlunar orbit. Practice of operations related to the provision of landing on the Moon and the return of the crew to the Earth. |
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| "Luna-15" of the USSR | ISL. Development of new automatic navigation systems. |
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| Apollo 11 USA | On July 20, 1969, a crewed spacecraft landed in the Sea of Tranquility in the area with coordinates: 22 "29" d., 0 ° 40 "N. Photographing of the lunar surface was carried out. Collection and delivery of lunar samples to the Earth. |
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| "Zond-7" USSR | Orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth. Images of the lunar surface were received on August 14 and delivered to Earth. Research has been carried out along the flight path. |
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| Apollo 12 USA | On November 19, 1969, a crewed vehicle landed in the Ocean of Storms in the area with coordinates: 23 ° 24 "W, 3 ° 12" S. NS. At the landing site, photographs of the lunar surface were carried out, samples of lunar rocks were collected, and an automatic set of instruments was installed. |
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| Apollo 13 USA | Orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth. |
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| "Luna-16" of the USSR | On September 20, 1970, a soft landing was made in the Sea of Plenty in the area about coordinates: 56 ° 18 "E, 0 ° 41" S. NS. A sample of the lunar soil was taken, delivered to Earth on September 24, 1970. |
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| "Zond-8" USSR | Orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth. Images of the lunar surface were received on October 27 and delivered to Earth. |
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| "Luna-17" of the USSR | On November 17, 1970, a soft landing was made in the Sea of Rains in the area with coordinates: 35 ° 00 "W, 38 ° 17" N. NS. The automatic self-propelled vehicle "Lunokhod-1" was delivered to the lunar surface. passed in 10.5 months a research route with a length of 10.5 km. Numerous images of the surface were transferred, mechanical and physical studies of the soil were carried out, the chemical composition of rocks was determined. |
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| Apollo 14 USA | On February 5, 1971, a spacecraft with a crew was landed to the north of Fra Maura crater in the area with coordinates: 17 ° 28 "W, 3 ° 40" S. NS. At the landing site, photographs were taken, samples were collected, and an automatic set of devices was installed. |
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| Apollo 15 USA | On July 30, 1971, a crewed vehicle landed to the east of Hadley Furrow in the area with coordinates: 3 ° 39 "east longitude, 26 ° 07" n. NS. At the landing site and along the routes of the self-propelled vehicle, photographs were taken, and samples of lunar rocks were collected. An automatic set of devices has been installed. |
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| "Luna-18" of the USSR | ISL. Development of methods for automatic circumlunar navigation and landing on a continental surface with complex relief. |
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| "Luna-19" of the USSR | ISL. Comprehensive studies of the Moon and near-lunar space from a selenocentric orbit. Studies of gravitational and magnetic fields, cosmic radiation and the density of the meteorite stream in the circumlunar space have been carried out. |
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| "Luna-20" of the USSR | A soft landing was carried out in the mainland region with coordinates: 56 ° 33 "E, 3 ° 32" N. NS. A sample of lunar soil was taken, delivered to Earth on February 25, 1972. |
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| Apollo 16 USA | On April 21, 1972, the vehicle with a crew was landed to the north of the Descartes crater in the area with coordinates: 15 ° 31 "E, 9" 00 "S. lunar rock samples An automatic set of instruments was installed. |
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| Apollo 17 USA | On December 11, 1972, a crewed vehicle landed in the Taurus - Littrov area in the area with coordinates: 30 ° 45 "east longitude, 20 ° 10" n. NS. At the landing site and along the routes of the self-propelled vehicle, photographs were taken, and samples of lunar rocks were collected. An automatic set of devices has been installed. |
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| "Luna-21" of the USSR | On January 16, a soft landing was made in Lemonnier crater in the area with coordinates: 30 ° 27 "E, 25 ° 51" N. NS. Lunokhod-2 was delivered to the lunar surface, which completed complex research in the transition zone "sea-mainland" on a 37 km long route within 5 months of work. Images of the surface were obtained, mechanical, physical, magnetometric and photometric studies of the soil were carried out, and the chemical composition of rocks was determined. |
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| "Luna-22" of the USSR | ISL. Long-term comprehensive exploration of the Moon and near-lunar space from orbit. Images of the lunar surface were obtained. |
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| "Luna-23" of the USSR | The station was launched into ISL orbit with subsequent landing in the southern part of the Sea of Crises. |
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| "Luna-24" of the USSR | On August 19, 1976, a soft landing was made in the Sea of Crises in the area with coordinates: 62 ° 12 "east longitude, 12 ° 45" north latitude. The lunar soil was automatically drilled to a depth of about 2 m, the obtained soil sample was delivered to Earth on August 22, 1976. |
FIRST SCOUT OF THE MOON
Edited by: Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Lenin Prize Laureate Boris RAUSHENBAKH;
pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, candidate of technical sciences Valery KUBASOV; candidate of technical sciences, laureate of the Lenin Prize Gleb MAKSIMOV.
Technology of Youth 1979, N2, p.28-29 With the launch of the first artificial earth satellites, scientists were able to study inaccessible to them before space using direct measurements. But these were only the first steps within a very tiny region of the solar system ... And above the horizon, the Moon shone brightly, familiar to everyone from childhood. With the invention of telescopes, it came close to people, and they discovered "seas", mountains and craters on it. But people saw only one side of the moon, always facing the earth. The invisible side remained a "seven sealed" secret. But what to say, even the nature of the moon's surface caused heated debate. Some scientists believed that the moon was covered with a thick layer of dust, several meters. Others are rocks somewhat reminiscent of terrestrial tuff. During one of the discussions, S. P. Korolev took a sheet of paper, drew a categorical: "The moon is firm," and signed. I gave the paper as a keepsake to the supporter of "moon dust". Of course, only spacecraft could resolve such speculative disputes. With the creation in the Soviet Union of a powerful launch vehicle capable of launching vehicles into orbits of artificial earth satellites, the specialists headed by S.P.Korolev developed a natural desire to reach the Moon. But for this it was necessary to expand the capabilities of the launch vehicle, to give it a new quality. Indeed, to launch an Earth satellite into orbit, it is enough to develop the so-called first space velocity - about 8 km / s. To break free from the fetters of gravity, this speed is no longer enough. It should increase to 11.2 km / s. So, first of all, it was necessary to increase the power of the launch vehicle. This problem was solved by installing an additional stage on it. At the same time, the first spacecraft for lunar exploration were developed at the S.P.Korolev design bureau. On January 2, 1959, the first ever start towards the night star took place. "Luna-1", or, as journalists called it, "Dream", passed near the Moon and became the first artificial satellite of the Sun in history. During the flight, with the help of scientific equipment, measurements were carried out in outer space (from the Earth to the orbit of the Moon), which were transmitted to the Earth thanks to the radio telemetry system. Interestingly, the flight of the station could be observed visually - a special device installed on the last stage of the launch vehicle (and it was rushing along almost the same trajectory as the station that separated from it) threw out a sodium cloud at an altitude of about 100 thousand km. This artificial comet has been seen by people in many countries. On September 12, 1959, the automatic station "Luna-2" was launched to the satellite of our planet. Two days later, she reached the moon, delivered to its surface a pennant with the emblem of the USSR. For the first time, the Earth-Moon route was laid, for the first time the eternal rest of another celestial body was disturbed. Luna 1 and Luna 2 were not very complex in their design. They decided completely specific tasks: testing and testing the accuracy of launching spacecraft into interplanetary orbits, testing the possibility of maintaining radio communication with them at significant distances, studying the properties of outer space between the Earth and the Moon and near the Moon. So, during their flight, magnetic fields Earths and Moon, radiation belts, cosmic rays, meteoric particles. The automatic interplanetary station "Luna-3" has become a fundamentally new one. For the first time, an automatic spacecraft received an attitude control system, and solar batteries were used as current sources for powering the equipment. A photo-television device was also installed on the AMS. The new station was to fly around the moon, "look" at its reverse side and photograph, and upon returning to Earth, transmit images from space. This is why the orientation system was installed. It included optical sensors that "saw" the Sun and the Moon, and orientation micromotors, which kept the station in a strictly defined position when the lens of the photo-television device was directed to the surface of the far side of the Moon. The photo-television device itself was also unusual. It is not just a camera, but also a developing device and a transmitter (via the onboard radio link) of the images obtained after processing. The configuration was also unusual solar panels... The fact is that throughout the entire flight path, except for the photographing area, the station was not oriented to the Sun. At the same time, to carry out the entire program of work, its chemical batteries needed constant recharging. And then, after complex calculations, in which the general layout of the AMC had to be taken into account, the requirements thermal conditions, the optimal shape of solar cells was chosen, allowing for any position of the station relative to the Sun to receive a current of almost the same magnitude. The launch of Luna-3 on October 4, 1959 sounded like a fireworks in honor of the second anniversary of the beginning of the space age. On October 7, the automatic interplanetary station photographed the far side of the Moon from a distance of 60 thousand km and transmitted a whole series of photographs to Earth, where scientists were eagerly awaiting them. Of course, these photos today leave much to be desired. But they were the first. Having deciphered them, the specialists received a unique scientific material... The images show both areas of the lunar surface invisible from the Earth, and a small area with already known relief. This made it possible to bind hitherto unknown objects of the lunar surface with already known ones and thus determine their coordinates. It turned out that on the far side of the Moon, in contrast to its visible part, there are few "seas", that mountainous regions predominate there. As a result of the first flights to the Moon, it was found that it lacks a magnetic field and radiation belts. Measurements of the total flux of cosmic radiation, carried out on the flight path and near the Moon, provided new information about cosmic rays and particles, about micrometeors in open space. The information received made it possible to move on to the creation of even more complex, even more advanced spacecraft.
Automatic interplanetary stations "Luna-1", "Luna-2"
Automatic interplanetary station "Luna-3"
The diagram shows the structure of the automatic interplanetary station "Luna-3". The numbers indicate: 1. Porthole for photographic apparatus. 2. Instruments for scientific research. 3. Heat shields. 4. Sections of solar panels. 5. Blinds of the thermal control system. 6. Antenna. 7. Solar sensor. 8. The engine of the orientation system.
"Luna-2" is the second interplanetary station, created within the framework of the "Luna" program, for the first time in the history of mankind reached the surface of the Earth's satellite.
A similar goal was set for the first station,. Unfortunately, due to an error in the calculations, the trajectory of this apparatus passed at a considerable distance from the Moon, and in fact the flight of the artificial apparatus from one space body to another did not take place. Nevertheless, its importance from the point of view of the uniqueness of scientific data transmitted to the mission control center is invaluable.
Features of the design and flight of the AMS "Luna-2"
Based on the information gathered from the results of the Luna-1 flight, a flight plan for the next station, named Luna-2, was developed. All equipment and devices in the new apparatus have remained practically unchanged. The launch was carried out by the same three-stage carrier rocket of the "Luna" type from.
AMS "Luna-2" was just over 5 meters long and 2.5 meters in diameter. Its weight was approximately 390 kg.
Launched on September 12, 1959, the automatic controlled Luna-2 spacecraft carried out its historic Earth-Moon flight in less than 48 hours. The landing site of the apparatus was recorded in the area of the Sea of Rains, between the craters Autolycus, Aristil and Archimedes. This area was henceforth named Lunnik Bay.
When the station hit the surface of the moon, it was destroyed. However, scientists managed to record that not only the station itself reached the surface, but also the last, third stage of the rocket.
The importance of the flight of the AMS "Luna-2"
On board the AMS "Luna-2" was placed a metal ball, which, upon impact, scattered into many pentagonal pennants with a commemorative engraving "USSR, September 1959". The same symbols of the triumph of Soviet cosmonautics were placed on the Luna-2 spacecraft itself and on the last stage of the rocket.
So, "Luna-2" became the second triumph of the Soviet cosmonautics after the launch of the first in history. It was during this flight that for the first time it was possible to obtain a parabolic velocity (the second cosmic one). The first apparatus in the history of mankind, created by human hands, reached the surface of another cosmic body, overcoming the force of gravity and passing a colossal distance from the Earth to the Moon.
In recognition of the importance of this event, the ice ledge in East Antarctica, discovered in the same year by Soviet scientists as part of an Antarctic expedition, was named Cape Lunnik (just like the lunar bay where the Luna-2 spacecraft crashed).
Forty years ago - on July 20, 1969 - man first set foot on the lunar surface. NASA's Apollo 11 spacecraft with a crew of three astronauts (commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Edwin Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins) became the first to reach the moon in the space race of the USSR and the USA.
Every month, the Moon, moving in its orbit, passes approximately between the Sun and the Earth and faces the Earth with its dark side, at this time a new moon occurs. One or two days after that, a narrow bright crescent of the "young" Moon appears in the western part of the sky.
The rest of the lunar disk is at this time dimly illuminated by the Earth, turned towards the Moon by its daytime hemisphere; this is the faint glow of the moon - the so-called ash light of the moon. After 7 days, the Moon moves away from the Sun by 90 degrees; the first quarter is coming lunar cycle when exactly half of the moon's disk and the terminator are illuminated, i.e., the dividing line between the light and dark side, becomes straight - the diameter of the lunar disk. In the following days, the terminator becomes convex, the view of the moon approaches the light circle, and in 14-15 days the full moon comes. Then the western edge of the moon begins to deteriorate; on the 22nd day, the last quarter is observed, when the moon is again visible in a semicircle, but this time with its bulge facing east. Angular distance The moon decreases from the Sun, it again becomes a tapering sickle, and after 29.5 days, the new moon comes again.
The points of intersection of the orbit with the ecliptic, called the ascending and descending nodes, have an uneven backward motion and perform full turn along the ecliptic for 6794 days (about 18.6 years), as a result of which the Moon returns to the same node after a time interval - the so-called draconian month - shorter than the sidereal one and on average equal to 27.21222 days; this month is associated with the periodicity of solar and lunar eclipses.
Visual magnitude(the measure of illumination created by a celestial body) of the full moon at an average distance is - 12.7; on a full moon, it sends 465,000 times less light to Earth than the Sun does.
Depending on what phase the Moon is in, the amount of light decreases much faster than the area of the illuminated part of the Moon, so when the Moon is in a quarter and we see half of its disk light, it sends to the Earth not 50%, but only 8 % of light from the full moon.
Color index moonlight equal to +1.2, that is, it is noticeably redder than the sun.
The moon rotates relative to the sun with a period equal to the synodic month, so the day on the moon lasts almost 15 days and the same amount of night lasts.
Without being protected by the atmosphere, the surface of the Moon heats up to + 110 ° C during the day, and cools down to -120 ° C at night, however, as radio observations have shown, these huge temperature fluctuations penetrate deep into only a few dm due to extremely weak thermal conductivity surface layers... For the same reason, during total lunar eclipses, the heated surface quickly cools, although some places retain heat longer, probably due to the high heat capacity (the so-called "hot spots").
Moon relief
Even with the naked eye, irregular darkish extended spots are visible on the Moon, which were mistaken for seas: the name has been preserved, although it was established that these formations have nothing to do with the terrestrial seas. Telescopic observations, which began in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, revealed the mountainous structure of the lunar surface.
It turned out that the seas are plains of a darker shade than other areas, sometimes called continental (or continental), teeming with mountains, most of which are ring-shaped (craters).
Based on long-term observations, detailed maps The moon. The first such maps were published in 1647 by Jan Hevelius (German Johannes Hevel, Polish Jan Heweliusz) in Danzig (modern - Gdansk, Poland). Retaining the term "seas", he also gave names to the main lunar ridges - according to similar terrestrial formations: Apennines, Caucasus, Alps.
Giovanni Batista Riccioli from Ferrara (Italy) in 1651 gave the vast dark lowlands fantastic names: Ocean of Storms, Sea of Crises, Sea of Calm, Sea of Rains and so on, he called smaller dark areas adjacent to the seas bays, for example , Rainbow Bay, and small irregular patches are swamps like the Swamp of Rot. Individual mountains, mainly ring-shaped, he named after prominent scientists: Copernicus, Kepler, Tycho Brahe and others.
These names have survived on lunar maps to this day, and many new names have been added. outstanding people, scientists of a later time. The names of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin and others appeared on the maps of the far side of the Moon, compiled from observations made from space probes and artificial satellites of the Moon. Detailed and accurate maps The moons were compiled from telescopic observations in the 19th century by German astronomers Johann Heinrich Madler, Johann Schmidt and others.
The maps were compiled in orthographic projection for the middle phase of libration, that is, approximately the same as the Moon is visible from the Earth.
At the end of the 19th century, photographic observations of the moon began. In 1896-1910, a large atlas of the moon was published by French astronomers Morris Loewy and Pierre Henri Puiseux from photographs taken at the Paris Observatory; later a photographic album of the Moon was published by the Lick Observatory in the United States, and in the middle of the 20th century, the Dutch astronomer Gerard Copier compiled several detailed atlases of photographs of the Moon obtained on large telescopes different astronomical observatories. With the help of modern telescopes, craters about 0.7 kilometer in size and craters a few hundred meters wide can be seen on the Moon.
Craters on the lunar surface have different relative ages: from ancient, barely distinguishable, heavily reworked formations to very clear-cut young craters, sometimes surrounded by light "rays". Moreover, young craters overlap older ones. In some cases, craters are cut into the surface of the lunar seas, and in others - rocks seas overlap craters. Tectonic ruptures either cut craters and seas, or they themselves are overlapped by younger formations. The absolute age of the lunar formations is known so far only at a few points.
Scientists managed to establish that the age of the youngest large craters is tens and hundreds of millions of years, and the bulk of large craters arose in the "Domorsk" period, i.e. 3-4 billion years ago.
They took part in the formation of lunar relief forms as inner strength and external influences... Calculations of the thermal history of the Moon show that soon after its formation, the interior was heated by radioactive heat and largely melted, which led to intense volcanism on the surface. As a result, giant lava fields and a number of volcanic craters were formed, as well as numerous cracks, ledges, and more. At the same time, to the surface of the moon on early stages dropped out great amount meteorites and asteroids - the remnants of a protoplanetary cloud, during the explosions of which craters appeared - from microscopic holes to ring structures with a diameter of several tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers. Due to the lack of atmosphere and hydrosphere, a significant part of these craters have survived to this day.
Now meteorites fall on the moon much less frequently; volcanism also largely stopped, as the moon consumed a lot of thermal energy, and radioactive elements were carried into the outer layers of the moon. Residual volcanism is evidenced by the outflow of carbon-containing gases in lunar craters, the spectrograms of which were first obtained by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev.
Study of the properties of the moon and its environment began in 1966 - the Luna-9 station was launched, transmitting panoramic images of the lunar surface to the Earth.
The Luna-10 and Luna-11 stations (1966) were engaged in studies of the circumlunar space. Luna-10 became the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
At this time, the United States was also developing a program for studying the moon, called the "Apollo" (The Apollo Program). It was the American astronauts who first set foot on the planet's surface. On July 21, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 lunar expedition, Neil Alden Armstrong and his partner Edwin Eugene Aldrin spent 2.5 hours on the moon.
The next stage in the exploration of the Moon was the dispatch of radio-controlled self-propelled vehicles to the planet. In November 1970, Lunokhod-1 was delivered to the moon, which in 11 lunar days(or 10.5 months) covered a distance of 10 540 m and transmitted a large number of panoramas, individual photographs of the lunar surface and other scientific information. The French reflector installed on it made it possible to measure the distance to the moon with the help of a laser beam with an accuracy of fractions of a meter.
In February 1972, the Luna-20 station delivered to Earth samples of lunar soil, taken for the first time in the hard-to-reach region of the Moon.
In February of the same year, the last manned flight to the moon took place. The flight was carried out by the crew of the Apollo-17 spacecraft. In total, 12 people have visited the moon.
In January 1973, Luna-21 delivered Lunokhod-2 to the Lemonier crater (Sea of Clarity) for a comprehensive study of the transition zone between the sea and mainland regions. Lunokhod-2 worked for 5 lunar days (4 months), covered a distance of about 37 kilometers.
In August 1976, the Luna-24 station delivered to Earth samples of lunar soil from a depth of 120 centimeters (the samples were obtained by drilling).
From now on, the study natural satellite Practically no land was kept.
Only two decades later, in 1990, his artificial satellite"Hiten" (Hiten) sent to the moon Japan, which became the third "lunar power". Then there were two more American satellites - Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector (1998). On this, flights to the moon were suspended.
On September 27, 2003, the European Space Agency launched the SMART-1 probe from the Kuru cosmodrome (Guiana, Africa). On September 3, 2006, the probe completed its mission and made a manned fall to the lunar surface. For three years of operation, the device transmitted to Earth a lot of information about the lunar surface, and also carried out high-resolution cartography of the Moon.
Currently, the study of the moon has received a fresh start. Earth satellite development programs operate in Russia, the USA, Japan, China, India.
According to the head of the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Anatoly Perminov, the concept for the development of Russian manned space exploration envisages a program for the exploration of the Moon in 2025-2030.
Legal issues of the exploration of the Moon
Legal issues of the exploration of the Moon are regulated by the "Treaty on Outer Space" (the full name is "Treaty on the principles of activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies"). It was signed on January 27, 1967 in Moscow, Washington and London by the depositary states - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. On the same day, the accession of other states to the treaty began.
According to him, the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, are carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, regardless of the degree of their economic and scientific development and space and celestial bodies are open to all states without any discrimination on the basis of equality.
The moon, in accordance with the provisions of the "Treaty on Outer Space", should be used "exclusively for peaceful purposes", any activity of a military nature is excluded on it. The list of activities prohibited on the Moon, given in Article IV of the Treaty, includes the placement nuclear weapons or any other type of weapon mass destruction, the creation of military bases, structures and fortifications, the testing of any types of weapons and the conduct of military maneuvers.
Private property on the moon
The sale of plots of the territory of a natural satellite of the Earth began in 1980, when the American Denis Hope discovered a California law of 1862, according to which nobody's property passed into the possession of the one who first brought claims to it.
The Outer Space Treaty signed in 1967 stated that “outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation,” but there was no clause stating that a space object could not be privatized privately, that and allowed Hope register ownership of the moon and all the planets of the solar system, excluding the Earth.
Hope opened the Lunar Embassy in the United States and organized wholesale and retail trade on the lunar surface. He successfully runs his "lunar" business, selling plots on the moon to those who wish.
To become a citizen of the Moon, you need to purchase a land plot for yourself, obtain a notarized certificate of ownership, lunar map with the designation of the site, its description and even the "Lunar Bill of Constitutional Rights." Lunar citizenship can be obtained for separate money by purchasing a lunar passport.
Ownership is registered at the Lunar Embassy in Rio Vista, California, USA. The process of registration and receipt of documents takes from two to four days.
V this moment Mr. Hope is creating the Lunar Republic and promoting it to the UN. The still failed republic has its own National holiday- Lunar independence day, which is celebrated on November 22.
Currently, the standard lot on the Moon is 1 acre (just over 40 ares). Since 1980, about 1.300 plots have been sold out of the approximately 5 million that have been "sliced" on the map of the illuminated side of the moon.
It is known that among the owners of the lunar sites are American presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, members of six royal families and about 500 millionaires, mainly from among Hollywood stars - Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Mick Jagger, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dennis Hopper and others.
Lunar offices were opened in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and more than 10 thousand CIS residents became the owners of the lunar lands. Among them are Oleg Basilashvili, Semyon Altov, Alexander Rosenbaum, Yuri Shevchuk, Oleg Garkusha, Yuri Stoyanov, Ilya Oleinikov, Ilya Lagutenko, as well as cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev and other famous figures.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
After the first successes in studying the Moon (the first hard landing of the probe on the surface, the first flyby with photographing the back side invisible from the Earth), the scientists and designers of the USSR and the USA, involved in the "lunar race", objectively faced new task... It was necessary to ensure a soft landing of the research probe on the lunar surface and learn how to launch artificial satellites into its orbit.
This task was not easy. Suffice it to say that Sergey Korolev, who was in charge of OKB-1, did not manage to achieve this. In 1963-1965, 11 spacecraft launches were carried out (each successfully launched received official number series "Luna") with the aim of a soft landing on the moon, and they all failed. Meanwhile, the workload of OKB-1 projects was excessive, and at the end of 1965, Korolev was forced to transfer the topic of soft lunar landing to the Lavochkin Design Bureau, which was led by Georgy Babakin. It was the "Babakins" (after the death of Korolyov) who managed to go down in history thanks to the success of "Luna-9".
First landing on the moon
(Click on the picture to view the scheme of the lunar landing of the spacecraft)
First, the station "Luna-9" on January 31, 1966 was delivered by a rocket into the Earth's orbit, and then from it set off in the direction of the Moon. The station's braking engine provided the damping of the landing speed, and the inflatable shock absorbers protected the station's landing module from hitting the surface. After they were shot, the module turned into working condition. The world's first panoramic images of the lunar surface, received from Luna-9 during communication with it, have confirmed the theory of scientists about the satellite's surface not covered with a significant dust layer.
The first artificial satellite of the moon
The second success of the "Babakins", who used the reserve of OKB-1, was the first artificial lunar satellite. The launch of the Luna-10 spacecraft took place on March 31, 1966, and the successful launch into a circumlunar orbit took place on April 3. For more than a month and a half, the Luna-10 scientific instruments have been exploring the Moon and the circumlunar space.
Achievements of the USA
Meanwhile, the United States, confidently marching towards its main goal - the landing of a man on the moon, rapidly closed the gap with the USSR and took the lead. Five satellites of the Surveyor series made a soft lunar landing and conducted important research at landing sites. Five orbital cartographers from Lunar Orbiter have compiled a detailed high-resolution map of the surface. Four test manned flights of Apollo spacecraft, including two with an entry into the lunar orbit, have confirmed the correctness of the decisions taken in the development and design of the program, and the technology has proven its reliability.
First man landing on the moon
The crew of the first lunar expedition included astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. Spaceship Apollo 11 took off on July 16, 1969. The gigantic three-stage Saturn V rocket fired without comment, and Apollo 11 made its way to the Moon. Having entered the lunar orbit, it split into the Columbia orbiter and the Eagle lunar module, piloted by astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin. On July 20, he landed in the southwest of the Sea of Tranquility.
Six hours after landing, Neil Armstrong exited the cockpit of the lunar module and at 2 hours 56 minutes 15 seconds UTC on July 21, 1969 for the first time in human history stepped onto the lunar regolith. Aldrin soon joined the commander of the first lunar expedition. They spent 151 minutes on the lunar surface, placed paraphernalia and scientific equipment on it, instead loading 21.55 kg of lunar stones into the module.
The end of the "moon race"
Leaving the landing block on the surface, the Eagle takeoff stage took off from the moon and docked with Columbia. Reunited, the crew sent Apollo 11 towards Earth. Having slowed down in the atmosphere at the second space velocity, the command module with the astronauts after more than 8 days of flight softly sank into the waves The Pacific. the main objective The "moon race" has been achieved.
Another side of the moon
(Photograph of the far side of the Moon from the landing vehicle "Chanye-4")
This side is invisible from Earth. On October 27, 1959, from lunar orbit, the reverse side was photographed by a Soviet space station Luna-3, and more than half a century later, on January 3, 2019, the Chinese spacecraft Chanye-4 successfully landed on the surface of the reverse side and sent the first image from its surface.
