Luna 22
Luna 22 — the last Soviet lunar orbiter (in orbit 2 June 1974). Over 18 months it photographed the surface and studied the Moon's magnetic field, gravity and the composition of its rocks, changing orbit many times — as low as 25 km above the surface — until its manoeuvring fuel ran out on 2 September 1975.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- Lavochkin (USSR)
- Launched
- May 29, 1974
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.998 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 3,803,119 km
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.286 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Luna 22 was the last Soviet spacecraft to orbit the Moon, and the longest-lived of them. Launched on 29 May 1974 on a Proton rocket, it entered a near-circular orbit of 219 by 221 km, inclined 19.6°, on 2 June. Over the following 18 months it photographed the surface and studied the Moon's magnetic field, the gamma rays given off by its surface and the composition of its rocks, its gravity field, micrometeoroids and cosmic rays. To serve those experiments it was steered through many different orbits, dipping as low as 25 km above the surface and climbing as high as 1,578 km. Its manoeuvring fuel ran out on 2 September 1975, and the mission was ended in early November. Its orbit would have decayed naturally, bringing it down somewhere on the Moon, probably in 1976. After Luna 22, the Soviet Union sent only landers to the Moon.
- 1974Luna 22 launches toward the Moon on a Proton rocketLaunch
The last Soviet lunar orbiter sets out.
It begins 18 months of photography and surveys.
- 1975Manoeuvring fuel exhaustedMilestone
After many orbit changes, dipping as low as 25 km above the surface.
Images
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