8
1 Introduction
The landing module of Luna 9 looked like a ball that the diameter was 58 cm and
the mass was 99 kg. The upper semisphere was TV camera and the lower semisphere
was made up of battery, thermal controller and telecommunication subsystem. The
lander was a sealed capsule that electronic devices were installed and the temperature
was between 19 to 30 °C inside. There were four petal antennae on the top of the
lander. The diameter was 160 cm and the height was 112 cm after petal antennae
deployed.
After landing, the 4 petal antennae on the top of the lander were deployed and
signal was transmitted to the Earth. The 4 petal antennae could help landing stability
and serve as telecommunication subsystem reflector with four 75 cm boom antennae.
Then the TV camera system made up of fixed and rotated lens took black-and-white
photo of lunar surface near the lander. The first black-and-white photo was divided
into seven parts and transmitted back to the Earth in 8 hours.
The Luna 9 stopped work because of exhaustion of the battery on 7 Feb. 1966. After
the data send back by Luna 9 was analyzed, the Soviet Union scientists concluded
that lunar surface was solid so that human being could land on lunar surface.
2. The Luna 16 Lander
After development of the Luna 9 and the Luna 13, new model of lunar lander was
developed by the Soviet Union and was used in the Luna 16, Luna 17, Luna 20, Luna
21 and Luna 24 missions.
1) Specification of the lander
The launch mass of the lander was about 5800 kg, while the dry mass of the lander
was about 1100 kg with the mass of the lunar rover or ascent vehicle was about
800 kg. It was a middle-class lander.
2) The landing process
The powered descent and landing of the Luna 16 was performed after lunar orbit
insertion. The lander was inserted into a 110 km circular orbit around the Moon and
then the perilune altitude was lowered to 18 km. The initial descent was performed
at the perilune. When the altitude of the lander was about 2 km, the precise descent
phase was initiated. The altitude to lunar surface was measured by the Doppler
speedometer and radar altimeter. The attitude was controlled and the main engine
was throttleable. When the altitude to lunar surface was 20 m, the main engine was
shut off and small thrusters were powered on until the altitude to lunar surface was
3.5 m and the vertical velocity was less than 2.4 m/s. Then the small thrusters were
power off and the lander freely fell to lunar surface. The landing process is shown in
Fig. 1.3.
3) Basic configuration of the lander
The design principle of the lander was integrated structure with propulsion, i.e. the
fuel tank served as bearing structure. There were four cylinder-and-spherical-dome
fuel tanks for midcourse trajectory correction and lunar orbit insertion, while four
spherical tanks for landing. The electronic devices were installed on the lateral wall
1 Introduction
The landing module of Luna 9 looked like a ball that the diameter was 58 cm and
the mass was 99 kg. The upper semisphere was TV camera and the lower semisphere
was made up of battery, thermal controller and telecommunication subsystem. The
lander was a sealed capsule that electronic devices were installed and the temperature
was between 19 to 30 °C inside. There were four petal antennae on the top of the
lander. The diameter was 160 cm and the height was 112 cm after petal antennae
deployed.
After landing, the 4 petal antennae on the top of the lander were deployed and
signal was transmitted to the Earth. The 4 petal antennae could help landing stability
and serve as telecommunication subsystem reflector with four 75 cm boom antennae.
Then the TV camera system made up of fixed and rotated lens took black-and-white
photo of lunar surface near the lander. The first black-and-white photo was divided
into seven parts and transmitted back to the Earth in 8 hours.
The Luna 9 stopped work because of exhaustion of the battery on 7 Feb. 1966. After
the data send back by Luna 9 was analyzed, the Soviet Union scientists concluded
that lunar surface was solid so that human being could land on lunar surface.
2. The Luna 16 Lander
After development of the Luna 9 and the Luna 13, new model of lunar lander was
developed by the Soviet Union and was used in the Luna 16, Luna 17, Luna 20, Luna
21 and Luna 24 missions.
1) Specification of the lander
The launch mass of the lander was about 5800 kg, while the dry mass of the lander
was about 1100 kg with the mass of the lunar rover or ascent vehicle was about
800 kg. It was a middle-class lander.
2) The landing process
The powered descent and landing of the Luna 16 was performed after lunar orbit
insertion. The lander was inserted into a 110 km circular orbit around the Moon and
then the perilune altitude was lowered to 18 km. The initial descent was performed
at the perilune. When the altitude of the lander was about 2 km, the precise descent
phase was initiated. The altitude to lunar surface was measured by the Doppler
speedometer and radar altimeter. The attitude was controlled and the main engine
was throttleable. When the altitude to lunar surface was 20 m, the main engine was
shut off and small thrusters were powered on until the altitude to lunar surface was
3.5 m and the vertical velocity was less than 2.4 m/s. Then the small thrusters were
power off and the lander freely fell to lunar surface. The landing process is shown in
Fig. 1.3.
3) Basic configuration of the lander
The design principle of the lander was integrated structure with propulsion, i.e. the
fuel tank served as bearing structure. There were four cylinder-and-spherical-dome
fuel tanks for midcourse trajectory correction and lunar orbit insertion, while four
spherical tanks for landing. The electronic devices were installed on the lateral wall