May 29 1974
From The Space Library
29 May-19 June: The U.S.S.R. launched Luna 22 unmanned lunar probe from Baykonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam at 1;57 pm local time (4:57 am EDT) . The automatic station was separated from a platform rocket system in earth orbit and put into a close-to-planned trajectory for the moon. A flight-path correction maneuver 30 May aimed the space-craft toward a selected area of near-moon space.
Luna 22 went into circular orbit of the moon 2 June, with a 220-km apogee, 220-km perigee, 130.0-min period, and 19.6° inclination. The Soviet press reported 3 June that all instruments aboard the spacecraft were functioning normally and scientific investigation of the moon had begun. Luna 22 was transferred into an elliptical orbit with a 244-km apogee and 25-km perigee 9 June to take detailed TV photos of the lunar surface and to study surface relief using an onboard altimeter. Chemical composition of rocks was obtained by determining the gamma radiation. After completion of the photography program the spacecraft was moved to an orbit with a 299-km apogee and 181-km perigee, By 19 June Luna 22 had completed 187 orbits of the moon; all equipment continued to function normally. (GSFC SSR, 30 June 74; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 30 May 74, Ul ; 4 June 74, Ul ; 20 June 74, Ul ; SF, Nov 74, 434)
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