Luna 24
Luna 24 — the last of the Luna series (landed 18 August 1976, Mare Crisium). Its drill collected 170.1 grams of soil, which its capsule carried to western Siberia on 22 August — the last lunar sample return until China's Chang'e 5 in 2020.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- Lavochkin (USSR)
- Launched
- August 9, 1976
- Status
- Completed
Mission
Luna 24 was the last of the Luna series, and for 44 years the last spacecraft to bring lunar samples to Earth. Launched on 9 August 1976 on a Proton rocket, it entered a 115 km circular orbit inclined at 120° and on 18 August landed in Mare Crisium, the Sea of Crises — a few hundred metres from Luna 23, which had been damaged landing there two years before. Its drill collected 170.1 grams of lunar soil, which was sealed in the return capsule. At 05:25 UT on 19 August the ascent stage lifted off, and at 05:55 UT on 22 August the capsule came down in western Siberia, about 200 km southeast of the town of Surgut. It was the largest of the three Soviet sample returns, after Luna 16's 101 grams and Luna 20's 30. No further lunar samples reached Earth until China's Chang'e 5 in December 2020. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has since photographed the lander on the rim of a small crater.
- 1976Luna 24 launches toward the Moon on a Proton rocketLaunch
The last Luna sets out for Mare Crisium.
Its drill collects 170.1 grams of lunar soil.
- 1976Ascent from the MoonAscent
The return stage lifts off at 05:25 UT.
The capsule lands in western Siberia, about 200 km southeast of Surgut — the last lunar sample return for 44 years.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image