Lunokhod 2

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Lunokhod 2 was the Soviet Union's second robotic Moon rover, and for four decades the distance champion of off-world driving. Carried to the Moon by the Luna 21 lander, it rolled onto the floor of the Le Monnier crater, on the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, in January 1973. It was a refined version of Lunokhod 1 — faster, with an extra steerable television camera mounted higher for better forward views — and over about four months it covered roughly 39 kilometres, a record for surface travel on another world that stood until NASA's Opportunity rover surpassed it in 2014. It returned around 80,000 television frames and 86 panoramas, and studied the crater's magnetic field, ambient light and soil. The mission came to an unfortunate end in the spring of 1973: while manoeuvring in a crater the rover's open lid brushed the loose wall, and lunar soil spilled onto the radiator that shed its waste heat. The dusty radiator could no longer keep the rover cool, and as its interior overheated, Lunokhod 2 went silent. Its driving record stood as a quiet monument to Soviet robotics until the Mars rovers of a new century finally drove further.

1. 1973Launch aboard Luna 21Launch

   The second Soviet Moon rover sets out atop the Luna 21 lander.

2. 1973Arrival in Le Monnier craterLanding

   Luna 21 lands on the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis and Lunokhod 2 drives onto the surface.

3. 1973A record driveMilestone

   Covers roughly 39 km — a distance record on another world that stood until 2014.

4. 1973Overheating ends the missionMission end

   Soil spilled onto the radiator leaves the rover unable to shed heat, and it goes silent.

Images

Images from open archives · credit shown per image