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PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF LUNA 9
success ofn soft-landing on the moon and transmitting data back, to the earthignificant accomplishment in the Soviet lunarprogram. The numerousefforts that precededndicate the high priority placedunar landing by the USSR.
derived froms valuable to both the United States and the Soviet Union.rovedehicle can be successfully soft landed on the moon. This in turn, may lead to some optimism regarding future manned lunar landings.
In addition, the Soviets said thatade radiation measurements and found that the radiation level on the moon is well within the acceptable limits for human beings. Theayload appears to be of relatively simple design using subsystems of minimumconsistent with achieving its
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DISCUSSION
Launch Attempts
as Ihe twelfth attempted lunar mission"rogram dating back tof thoour railed while In theirorbit, two failed during ejection from parking orbit, twondissed the moon due to error* in the midcourse maneuver, and three (Luna, andrashed on lhe moon.
ConfigurationI.'Uva il Spat-ecr art
According to Soviet announcements,onsisted of three basicLunar station" weighingounds which was soft-landed on the moon (see figuresystem used both lor the midcourse correction and for the soft landing,compartments carrying altitude control and guidance systems. The total weight ofs it left its earthorbit and started on its lunarwas said toounds. This weight is consistent with those oflunar probes
ubsequent attempt6 failed to eject from parking orbit and was labeledy the Soviets.
The Soviets described theanding capsuleermetically sealed sphere which had petal-like legs thaiupon impact to stabilize theon the moon. Radio transmitters and receivers, telemetry equipment, andteries were contained inside the sphere. The station was said to be about two feet above the lunar surface, but It Is not clear whether this figure rolers to the diameter of the sphere or to the height of the photo-facsimile viewing device above theThe photofacslmile sensor itself was said to weighilograms, and its field of view was said to beand centeredo tbe station's main axis. It reportedlyarge depth of field which allowed Imaging at distances fromcet to infinity without changing the focus.
^"sovietf lhepacecraft are consistent with theor an unidentified Soviet spacecraft shown in figurehis object appears similar to the sketches innd4.purporting tonroute to the moon.
If
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A mldcourse correctionebruary. Accordingcommands were sent fromand the spacecraft orientedthe following manner: one sensoronto the sun,econduntil it found the moonon to it. The direction ofsensors with respect to thewas slowly changed by grounduntil the axis of thewas correctly oriented. Theengine was then fired andvelocity of the spacecraft by
TASS stated thatebruary, initial data for carrying out tbe braking sequence were transmitted to the probe. At an altitude0 km above the moon, roughly one hour before impact, thewas aligned with the local vertical (sec figurey "opticalunar horizonhile in this orientation, tho two optical sensors mentioned previously were locked onto the sun and the earth and held them as reference points "for about an hour until tbe braking engine washisveryslmpleproceOuretakes advantage ot an Inherent geometrical property of the group of approachand insures that tbe braking engine is aligned with the local vertical even if the trajectory ia slightly off nominal.
Just before ignition of this braking engine, according to the Soviet account, the two compartments containing flight control instruments were Jettisoned. These compartments can be seen innd 4.
eight ofm, the braking engine wan triggeredadio(sec figurend fired foreconds. This retroflre period reduced the velocity of the probe0 meters per second to several meters per secondery low altitude."
At impact, the lunar stationsystem ol shock absorbers" was separated from thi- braking unit and
hows the sequence ol events near landing time. The short period of nearly constant frequency after the end of main retroflre mayernier descent phase. The TASS-announcedtime ofs probably ansince the radio signal was olf the air at that time. When the signal returned after landing, its frequency was only slightly different from thatbefore separation of the capsule. This suggests that the same transmitter was used, first with an antenna on the retrounit, and later, after opening ot the capsule, with the antennas shown In figure 1.
Missions of Luna 9
oscow press conference onebruary, Mstlslav Keldysh,of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, stated that the only twoons of Luna 9
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At the press conference, Sovietclaimed that the lunar photos showed details of the surface as smallillimeters near the station, and larger features out to the horizon, which wasilometers from the station. During the time of the picture taking, the elevation of the sun changed from. This will aid the
Soviets in their interpretation of the vertical magnitude of various surface featurestudy of the same features under different conditions ol However, the sun did notigh enough angle during thi- period of the experiment to completely illuminate he bottoms of some of the larger depros-iions. The Soviets therefore will not be ible to determine with gre.it accuracy .he depths of these features. On the other hand, theyividend when the station shifted position slightly between the "second and third" transmissions. Some of thoxc changes can I* noted by comparing the lunar panorama shown in figures.y comparing photos of the same features before and after the shift, the Soviets will be able tolight stereoeffeet. Tbe cause for the shifting of the station is not known, but Keldysh has stated that the station could have been restingmall stone or that tbe surface of the moon could have settled slightly.ettling could be duo to temperature changes and/or to certain mechanical movements within the station.
In addition to the video experiment, the Soviets also measured radiation at the lunarSoviet physicist from Moscow State University, A. ebcdinsky, stated that signals receivedhowed that "the intensity of radiation on the surface of the moon Is determined mainly by cosmic rays and the dose amounts toallllrada perhis Indicates (hat the interior of the moon probably contributes little if any to the radioaelivity at the surface. The most Interesting thing about this measurement is that it was made in terms
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of millirads rather thanintermsoftypes of particles present and their energy spectrum. That is.thequantitymeasured by the Soviets is that which would bein determining the degree of danger to human beings. This is the same type of measurement that the Soviets have made in all oftheir manned VostokandVoskhod flights.eans of comparison, the announced rate ofllliradsperday is about the same as the dose rate inside the Vostok capsules and is well witl acceptable limits, for human beings.
Original document.
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