Editing Lunokhod programme (section)

==Lunokhod Rovers==

===Lunokhod 201===
After years of secret engineering development and training, the first Lunokhod (vehicle 8ЕЛ№201) was launched on February 19, 1969. Within a few seconds the rocket disintegrated and the first Lunokhod was lost. The rest of the world did not learn of the rocket's valuable payload until years later.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite episode|title=Tank on the Moon |series=The Nature of Things with David Suzuki |network=CBC-TV |airdate=December 6, 2007 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/magazine2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226123643/http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/magazine2.html |archive-date=December 26, 2008 }}</ref> The failure resulted in the radioactive heat source, [[polonium 210]], being spread over a large region of Russia.<ref name="eneryspace">{{cite web|url=http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/2014/01/16/energy-resources-space-missions/ |title=Energy Resources for Space Missions |first=Göktuğ |last=Karacalıoğlu |work=Space Safety Magazine |date=January 6, 2014 |access-date=January 18, 2014}}</ref>

===''Lunokhod 1''===
{{Main|Lunokhod 1}}
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2019}}
[[File:FP2A3576 (23497689198).jpg|thumb|Lunokhod 1 model in the Museum of Cosmonautics (Moscow)]]
[[Image:USSR Lunokhod 1 (6586684979) (6).jpg|thumb|First photo made by Lunokhod 1 on Moon surface]]

After the destruction of the original Lunokhod, Soviet engineers began work immediately on another lunar vehicle.  ''[[Lunokhod 1]]'' (vehicle 8ЕЛ№203) was the first of two uncrewed lunar rovers successfully landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod programme. The spacecraft which carried ''Lunokhod 1'' was named ''[[Luna 17]]''. ''Lunokhod 1'' was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.

''Luna 17'' was launched on November 10, 1970 at 14:44:01 UTC. After reaching Earth [[parking orbit]], the final stage of ''Luna 17''{{'}}s launching rocket fired to place it into a trajectory towards the Moon (November 10, 1970 at 14:54 UTC). After two course correction manoeuvres (on November 12 and 14) it entered lunar orbit on November 15, 1970 at 22:00 UTC.

The spacecraft soft-landed on the Moon in the [[Mare Imbrium|Sea of Rains]] on November 17, 1970 at 03:47 UTC. The lander had dual ramps from which the payload, ''Lunokhod 1'', could descend to the surface. At 06:28 UT the rover moved down the ramps and onto the Moon.

The rover's payload included cameras (two television and four panoramic telephotometers), a RIFMA [[X-ray spectrometer|X-ray fluorescence spectrometer]], an RT-1 [[X-ray telescope]], a PrOP odometer/penetrometer, a RV-2N radiation detector, and a TL laser retroreflector.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Depth {{!}} Luna 17 |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-17/in-depth |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=NASA Solar System Exploration |archive-date=2022-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629221716/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-17/in-depth/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

An urban legend was spread among the Soviet Union that the Lunokhod rover was driven by a “[[KGB]] Dwarf”,<ref>{{Cite web |title=KGB Dwarf |url=http://www.astronautix.com/k/kgbdwarf.html |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=www.astronautix.com}}</ref> however it was never explained how supplies were stored to keep them alive for an 11-month mission.

===''Lunokhod 2''===
{{Main|Lunokhod 2}}
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2019}}
[[File:Lunokhod 2 in Kaluga 01.jpg|thumb|Lunokhod 2 model in the Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics]]

''[[Lunokhod 2]]'' (vehicle 8ЕЛ№204) was the second and more advanced of the two Lunokhod rovers. The launcher put the spacecraft into Earth parking orbit on January 8, 1973, followed by a [[translunar injection]]. On January 12, 1973, ''[[Luna 21]]'' was braked into a {{convert|90|by|100|km|mi|abbr=in|0}} [[lunar orbit]].

The ''[[Luna 21]]'' spacecraft landed on the Moon to deploy the second Soviet lunar rover, ''Lunokhod 2''. The primary objectives of the mission were to collect images of the lunar surface, examine ambient light levels to determine the feasibility of astronomical observations from the Moon, perform laser ranging experiments from Earth, observe solar X-rays, measure local magnetic fields, and study mechanical properties of the lunar surface material.

The landing occurred on January 15, 1973 at 23:35 UT in [[Le Monnier (crater)|Le Monnier crater]] (25.85 degrees N, 30.45 degrees E).

After landing the ''Lunokhod 2'' took television images of the surrounding area, then rolled down a ramp to the surface at 01:14 UT on 1973-01-16. It then took pictures of the ''Luna 21'' lander and landing site.

The rover was equipped with three [[slow-scan television]] cameras, one mounted high on the rover for navigation, which could return high resolution images at different rates&mdash;3.2, 5.7, 10.9 or 21.1 seconds per frame (not frames per second). These images were used by the five-man team of controllers on Earth who sent driving commands to the rover in real time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronaut.ru/luna/crew.htm|title=Экипажи Лунохода|website=www.astronaut.ru}}</ref> There were four panoramic cameras mounted on the rover.

Scientific instruments included a [[soil mechanics]] tester, solar X-ray experiment, an [[photometer|astrophotometer]] to measure visible and [[ultraviolet]] light levels, a [[magnetometer]] deployed in front of the rover on the end of a 2.5 [[metre|m]] (8&nbsp;ft 2 in) boom, a [[radiometer]], a [[photodetector]] (Rubin-1) for laser detection experiments, and a French-supplied laser [[corner reflector]].

====Payload====
* Cameras (three television and four panoramic [[telephotometer]]s)
* RIFMA-M [[X-ray fluorescence]] spectrometer
* [[X-ray telescope]]
* PROP [[odometer]]/[[penetrometer]]
* RV-2N-LS [[radiation detector]]
* TL laser [[retroreflector]]
* AF-3L UV/visible [[photometer|astrophotometer]]
* SG-70A [[magnetometer]]
* Rubin 1 [[photodetector]]

===''Lunokhod 3''===
[[File:Lunokhod-3 side.jpg|200px|thumb|''Lunokhod 3'' (side view)]]
[[File:Lunokhod-3 back.jpg|200px|thumb|''Lunokhod 3'' (front view)]]

'''''Lunokhod 3''''' (vehicle 8ЕЛ№205) was built for a [[Moon landing]] in 1977 as ''Luna 25'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVeY7vMCtOkC&pg=PA280 |title=Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration |first=Brian |last=Harvey |date=17 August 2007 |page=280 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9780387218960 |access-date=2014-04-20}}</ref> but never flew to the Moon due to lack of launchers and funding. It remains at the NPO Lavochkin museum.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/other-moon.html|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140511103222/http://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-other-moon-landings-6457729/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-05-11|title=The Other Moon Landings|first=Andy|last=Chaikin|journal=Air & Space|date=February–March 2004}}</ref>