Oct 28 1974
From The Space Library
28 October-9 November: Luna 23, second Soviet lunar mission of 1974, was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam into a parking orbit with 246-km apogee, 183-km perigee, 88.7-min period, and 51.5° inclination, where the "automatic station" was separated and launched on a near-to-planned trajectory to the moon. After a 31 Oct flight path correction, the spacecraft on 2 Nov. entered a, lunar orbit with 104-km apogee, 94-km perigee, 117-min period, and 138° inclination. On 4 and 5 Nov. the orbit was changed to 105-km apogee and 17-km perigee.
The spacecraft landed in the southern part of the moon's Sea of Crisis 6 Nov., but rugged terrain damaged a device designed to take rock samples from a 2.5-m depth. The planned drilling and collection of lunar soil had to be abandoned for a reduced equipment-testing pro-gram. Work with the station was discontinued 9 Nov. (GSFC Wkly SSR, 24-30 Oct 74; Domestic News Service, FBIS-Sov, 29 Oct 74, U1-2; 10 Nov 74, U1; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 4 Nov 74, U1 ; Av Wk, 4 Nov 74, 13; SF, April 75, 152)
28 October: The U.S.S.R. launched Meteor 19 weather satellite from Plesetsk into orbit with 904-km apogee, 842-km perigee, 102.4-min period, and 81.2° inclination. Tass reported that the spacecraft carried meteorological equipment to photograph cloud formations and snow cover and to obtain data on the thermal energy reflected and radiated by the earth and the atmosphere. (GSFC Wkly SSR, 24-30 Oct 74; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 29 Oct 74, U1 ; Av Wk, 4 Nov 74, 13)
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