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| .....Zond 3 was launched
from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (65-056B) earth
orbiting platform towards the moon and
interplanetary space. The spacecraft was
equipped with an f106 mm camera and TV
system that provided automatic inflight
film processing. On July 20 lunar flyby
occurred approximately 33 hours after
launch at a closest approach of 9200 km.
25 pictures of very good quality were
taken of the lunar farside from distances
of 11,570 to 9960 km over a period of 68
minutes. The photos covered 19,000,000
square km of the lunar surface. Photo
transmissions by facsimile were returned
to earth from a distance of 2,200,000 km
and were retransmitted from a distance of
31,500,000 km (some signals still being
transmitted from the orbit of Mars), thus
proving the ability of the communications
system. After the lunar flyby, Zond 3
continued space exploration in a
heliocentric orbit. |
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