Editing Zond program (section)

{{short description|Series of Soviet robotic space probes launched between 1964 and 1970}}
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{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}<!-- Please, do not change into British English, because British use 'programme'. Please see the talk page-->
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[[File:ZOND.jpg|thumb|An artist's impression of a Zond spacecraft en route to the Moon.]]
'''Zond''' ({{langx|ru|Зонд|lit=probe}}) was the name given to two distinct series of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[robotic spacecraft]] launched between 1964 and 1970. The first series, based on the [[3MV planetary probe]], was intended to gather information about nearby planets.

The second series of test spacecraft was intended as a precursor to remote-controlled robotic circumlunar loop flights, using a stripped-down variant of [[Soyuz spacecraft]], consisting of the [[Soyuz spacecraft#Service module|service]] and [[Soyuz spacecraft#Reentry Module|descent modules]], but lacking the [[Soyuz spacecraft#Orbital module|orbital module]].

Two tortoises and other lifeforms aboard [[Zond 5]] were the first terrestrial organisms to travel around the Moon and return to Earth.