Luna 9

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Luna 9 achieved what many engineers feared was impossible: a controlled soft landing on another world. It was the Soviet Union's twelfth attempt at the feat, after a long string of failures. Launched on 31 January 1966, it solved the landing problem with brute simplicity. Moments before impact, as the main craft fired a braking rocket, it ejected a sealed 99-kilogram capsule that hit the ground cushioned by inflatable airbags, bounced several times, and rolled to a stop. Four petal-like covers then opened, righting the capsule and exposing its camera. On 3 February 1966 Luna 9 came to rest in Oceanus Procellarum and returned the first photographs ever taken from the surface of another world — a stark panorama of nearby rocks and a horizon only a few metres away. The pictures settled a critical debate: some scientists had warned that the lunar surface might be covered in deep, treacherous dust that would swallow any lander, but Luna 9 sat firmly on solid ground, clearing the way for crewed landings. In a twist, the British observatory at Jodrell Bank intercepted the image signal and published the photographs before Moscow did. The probe transmitted for about three days before its batteries died.

1. 1966Launch toward the MoonLaunch

   Luna 9 departs on the Soviet Union's twelfth attempt at a soft lunar landing.

2. 1966Soft landing in Oceanus ProcellarumLanding

   An airbag-cushioned capsule is ejected just before impact, bounces, and rights itself.

3. 1966First pictures from another worldMilestone

   Returns the first photographs from the surface of the Moon; the soil is firm, not deep dust.

4. 1966Batteries depletedMission end

   After about three days of transmissions, Luna 9 falls silent.

Images

Images from open archives · credit shown per image