cosmos.wikisort.org - Spacecraft

Zond 3 was a 1965 space probe which performed a flyby of the Moon's far side,[3] taking a number of quality photographs for its time. It was a member of the Soviet Zond program while also being part of the Mars 3MV project. It was unrelated to Zond spacecraft designed for manned circumlunar missions (Soyuz 7K-L1). It is believed that Zond 3 was initially designed as a companion spacecraft to Zond 2 to be launched to Mars during the 1964 launch window. The opportunity to launch was missed, and the spacecraft was launched on a Mars-crossing trajectory as a spacecraft test, even though Mars was no longer attainable.

Zond 3

Mission type	Lunar science
Operator	OKB-1
COSPAR ID	1965-056A
SATCAT no.	01454
Mission duration	228 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	3MV-4
Manufacturer	OKB-1
Launch mass	960 kg (2,120 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	July 18, 1965, 14:38 (1965-07-18UTC14:38) UTC
Rocket	Molniya SL-6/A-2-e
Launch site	Baikonur LC-1/5
End of mission
Last contact	March 3, 1966 (1966-03-04)[1]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric
Eccentricity	0.2683
Perihelion altitude	0.9 AU (130 million km)
Aphelion altitude	1.56 AU (233 million km)
Inclination	0.5°
Period	500 days
Epoch	July 19, 1965, 20:00 UTC[2]
Flyby of Moon
Closest approach	July 20, 1965
Distance	9,219 km (5,728 mi)
Instruments f/8, 106.4 mm focal length camera Ultraviolet (0.25–0.35 µm) spectrograph Ultraviolet (0.19–0.27 µm) spectrophotometer Infrared (3–4 µm) spectrophotometer Micrometeoroid detector Radiation sensors (gas-discharge and scintillation counters)
Zond program ← Zond 2 None →

Spacecraft design

The spacecraft was of the 3MV-4 type, similar to Zond 2.[1] In addition to a 106.4 mm focal length f/8 imaging system for visible light photography and ultraviolet spectrometry at 285-355 μm, it carried ultraviolet (190-275 μm) and infrared (3-4 μm) spectrophotometers, radiation sensors (gas-discharge and scintillation counters), charged particle detector, magnetometer, and micrometeoroid detector.[1][4] It also had an experimental ion engine.

Operational history

Zond 3 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 18, 1965, at 14:38 UTC, and was deployed from a Tyazhely Sputnik (65-056B) Earth-orbiting platform towards the Moon and interplanetary space. This was a repeat of a mission that failed in late 1963 intended to test communication at distances equivalent to the distances experienced by Mars and Earth.[5]

Zond 3's lunar flyby occurred on July 20 with a closest approach of 9,219 km (5,728 mi),[1] approximately 35 hours after launch. 25 visible light photographs and 3 ultraviolet spectra of very good quality were taken of the lunar surface, beginning at 01:24 UTC and 11,570 km (7,190 mi) prior to closest approach and ending at 02:32 UTC and 9,960 km (6,190 mi) past closest approach, covering a period of 68 minutes.[1][6] The photos covered 19 million km² (7.3 million sq mi) of the lunar surface.[7]

Zond 3 proceeded on a trajectory across Mars' orbit, but not at a time when planetary encounter would occur. These images were transmitted by radio frequency on July 29 at a distance of 2.25 million km (1.40 million mi). To test telemetry, the camera film was rewound and retransmitted in mid-August, mid-September, and finally on October 23 at a distance of 31.5 million km (19.6 million mi), thus proving the ability of the communications system.[1] The subsequent transmissions were also at progressively slower data rates but higher quality.[5] The mission was ended after radio contact ceased on March 3, 1966, when it was at a distance of 153.5 million km (95.4 million mi).[1][4] It operated for 228 days, roughly equivalent to the time needed to survive a journey to Mars and exceeding that needed for Venus.[1]

References

• This article was originally based on material from NASA (NSSDC) information on Zond 3

External links

• Zond 3 at Zarya.info
• Soviet Moon Images at Mentallandscape.com

Preceded by Zond 2

Zond program

Succeeded by None

На других языках

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- [en] Zond 3

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[ru] Зонд-3

Зонд-3 — автоматическая межпланетная станция серии 3МВ. Была запущена в космос 18 июля 1965 года, совершила пролёт мимо Луны и передала чёткие снимки её обратной стороны на Землю.

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