Zond 8

Zond 8
Zond 8
Names Soyuz 7K-L1 s/n 14
Mission type Spacecraft test
Operator Soviet Union
COSPAR ID 1970-088A
SATCAT no. 4591
Mission duration 7 days (day of launch to day of landing)
Spacecraft properties
Bus Soyuz 7K-L1
Manufacturer OKB-1
Launch mass 5,375 kilograms (11,850 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date October 20, 1970 [1]
Rocket Proton-K/D
Launch site Baikonur Cosmodrome
End of mission
Recovered by Soviet recovery vessel Taman
Landing date October 27, 1970
Landing site 730 kilometres (450 mi) SE of the Chagos Archipelago
Flyby of Moon
Closest approach October 24, 1970
Distance 1,110.4 km (690.0 mi)

Zond 8, a formal member of the Soviet Zond program and unmanned version of Soyuz 7K-L1 manned Moon-flyby spacecraft, was launched from an Earth orbiting platform, Tyazheliy Sputnik (1970-088B), towards the Moon.

The announced objectives of Zond 8 were investigations of the Moon and circumlunar space and testing of onboard systems and units. The spacecraft obtained photographs of Earth on 21 October from a distance of 64,480 km. The spacecraft transmitted flight images of Earth for three days. Zond 8 flew past the Moon on October 24, 1970, at a distance of 1110.4 km and obtained both black-and-white and color photographs of the lunar surface. Scientific measurements were also obtained during the flight.

Zond 8 reentered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down 730 km SE of the Chagos Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean on 27 October 1970, 24 km from the USSR recovery ship Taman.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1970-088A
  2. ↑ "Zond 8, Recovery Ship, Miss Distance", Soviet and Russian lunar exploration By Brian Harvey - page 218, Recovery Ship and Miss Distance.
  3. ↑ "Zond 8, Landing Point" Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., NASA Solar System Exploration - Zond 8, Splashdown area.

This article was originally based on material from NASA (NSSDC) information on Zond 8

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