Luna 10 was an
unmanned space mission of the
Luna program, also called Lunik 10.
The Luna 10 spacecraft was launched towards the
Moon from an Earth orbiting platform on
March 31,
1966. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on April 3, 1966 and completed its first orbit 3 hours later (on April 4,
Moscow time). Scientific instruments included a
gamma-ray spectrometer[?] for energies between 0.3-3 MeV, a triaxial
magnetometer, a
meteorite detector, instruments for solar-plasma studies, and devices for measuring
infrared emissions from the Moon and radiation conditions of the lunar environment. Gravitational studies were also conducted. The spacecraft played back to Earth the 'Internationale' during the Twenty-third Congress of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union. Luna 10 was battery powered and operated for 460 lunar orbits and 219 active data transmissions before radio signals were discontinued on May 30, 1966.
- Launch Date/Time: 1966-03-31 at 10:48:00 UTC
- On-orbit dry mass: 540 kg
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