Luna 16
Country: USSR
Mission: Moon sample return
Launched: September 12, 1970
Launch Vehicle: Proton
Spacecraft Mass: 5,727 kg, 1880 kg on Moon
Arrival: September 17, 1970
Payload:
Stereo Imaging System
Sampler Arm with Drill
Earth Return Vehicle
Radiation Detectors
End of Mission: September 24, 1970
Notes: First unmanned Moon sample return (101 grams).
Luna 16 was launched on September 12, 1970 and landed on the Moon five days later with a controlled
landing in the Sea of Fertility. An automatic drilling rig was deployed and 101 grams of lunar
soil was collected. The samples were returned to Earth on September 24, 1970 and marked the
first time lunar sampled were recovered by an unmanned spacecraft.
