Editing Zond 8 (section)

==Mission==
Zond 8 was launched on 20 October 1970, at 19:55:39 GMT by a [[Proton-K]] / [[Blok D]] launcher from Site 81/23 of the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]], towards the [[Moon]]. Zond 8 had a mass of {{convert|5375|kg}}.<ref name="Zond 8"/> The announced objectives of Zond 8 were investigations of the Moon and circumlunar space and testing of onboard systems and units.<ref name=Zond_8>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-088A |title=Zond 8 |publisher=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive]] |access-date=December 5, 2022}}</ref>

The spacecraft obtained photographs of Earth on 21 October from a distance of {{convert|64480|km}}. After a mid-course correction on 22 October 1970 at a distance of {{convert|250000|km}} from Earth. The spacecraft transmitted flight images of Earth for three days. Zond 8 reached the Moon without any apparent problems, circling its target on 24 October at a range of {{convert|1110|km}} and took both [[black-and-white]] and [[Color photography|color photographs]] of the lunar surface during two separate sessions.<ref name="Experiment">{{cite web|title=Zond 8: Experiments 1970-088A |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayExperiment.action?spacecraftId=1970-088A|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|date=27 February 2020|access-date=11 April 2020}}</ref> The minimum distance from the Moon during the mission was 1,120 kilometres (696 miles) from the lunar surface.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Zond-8 flies last mission of the L1 project|url=http://russianspaceweb.com/zond8.html|access-date=2021-01-05|website=russianspaceweb.com}}</ref> Scientific measurements were also obtained during the flight.<ref name="Zond 8"/>

After two mid-course corrections on the return leg, Zond 8 achieved a return trajectory over Earth's northern hemisphere instead of the standard southern approach profile, allowing Soviet ground control stations to maintain near-continuous contact with the craft. The guidance system, however, malfunctioned on the return leg, and the spacecraft performed a simple ballistic (instead of a guided) reentry into Earth's atmosphere.<ref name="Zond 8"/> The reentry was different from other reentries in the Zond program as it went over the north pole and landed in the Indian Ocean.<ref name=":0" />

Zond 8 descent module reentered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely in the Indian Ocean at 13:55 GMT on 27 October 1970 at {{convert|730|km}} southeast of the Chagos Islands, {{convert|24|km}} from its original target point. The USSR recovery ship ''Taman'' was on hand to collect it and bring it back to Moscow.<ref name="Zond 8"/>

The Soviet Kremlin officials finally decided to cancel the L1 project in 1970.<ref name=":0" />

===Scientific instruments===
* Imaging system
* Solar wind collector packages