Luna 19

LunarOrbiter
Name=Luna 19


Organization=Soviet Union
Contractors=GSMZ Lavochkin
MissionType=Planetary Science
Lunar orbiter
LaunchDate=September 28, 1971 at 10:00:22 UTC
LaunchVehicle=Proton 8K82K + Blok D
MissionHighlight=Entered lunar orbit on October 3, 1971
MissionDuration=~388-days ~October 20, 1972
Mass=5,700 kg (5,600 kg dry)
NSSDC_ID=1971-082A
Web= [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1971-082A NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
SatelliteOf=Moon
SemiMajor=6,517.8 km
Eccentricity=0.18
Inclination=40.58°
Period=121.13 min
Apo=140 km
Peri=140 km
Orbits=~4,315
LunarLandingDate=
LunarLandingCoords=
LunarLiftoffDate=
Instruments=Imaging system
Gamma-ray spectrometer
Radio altimeter
Meteoroid detectors
Magnetometer
Cosmic-ray detectors
Radiation detectors

Luna 19 (a.k.a. Lunik 19) (Ye-8-LS series), was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program. Luna 19 extended the systematic study of lunar gravitational fields and location of mascons (mass concentrations). It also studied the lunar radiation environment, the gamma-active lunar surface, and the solar wind. Photographic coverage via a television system was also obtained.

Luna 19 was the first of the “advanced” lunar orbiters whose design was based uponthe same Ye-8-class bus used for the lunar rovers and the sample collectors. For these orbiters, designated Ye-8LS, the basic “lander stage” was topped off by a wheelless Lunokhod-like frame that housed all scientific instrumentation in a pressurized container.

Luna 19 was launched into an earth parking orbit on 28 September, and, from this orbit, was sent toward the Moon. Luna 19 entered an orbit around the Moon on 2 October 1971 after two midcourse corrections on 29 September and 1 October. Initial orbital parameters were 140 x 140 kilometers at 40.58° inclination.

Soon afterward, the spacecraft began its main imaging mission — providing panoramic images of the mountainous region of the Moon between 30° and 60° south latitude and between 20° and 80° east longitude. Other scientific experiments included extensive studies on the shape and strength of the lunar gravitational field and the locations of the mascons. Occultation experiments in May and June 1972 allowed scientists to determine the concentration of charged particles at an altitude of 10 kilometers. Additional studies of the solar wind were evidently coordinated with those performed by the Mars 2 and 3 orbiters and Veneras 7 and 8. Communications with Luna 19 were terminated some time between 3 and 20 October 1972, after a year of operation and more than 4,000 revolutions around the Moon.

External links

* [http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna.php Zarya - Luna programme chronology]

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list=Luna programme
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