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| .....The
Luna 9 spacecraft was the first
spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft
landing and to transmit photographic data
to Earth. The automatic lunar station
that achieved the soft landing weighed 99
Kg. It was a hermetically sealed
container with radio equipment, a program
timing device, heat control systems,
scientific apparatus, power sources, and
a television system. The Luna 9 payload
was carried to Earth orbit by an A-2-E
vehicle and then conveyed toward the Moon
by a fourth stage rocket that separated
itself from the payload. Flight apparatus
separated from the payload shortly before
Luna 9 landed. After landing in the Ocean
of Storms on February 3, 1966, the four
petals, which formed the spacecraft,
opened outward and stabilized the
spacecraft on the lunar surface. Spring-controlled
antennas assumed operating positions, and
the television camera rotatable mirror
system, which operated by revolving and
tilting, began a photographic survey of
the lunar environment. |
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