Russian probes returned the first images of the Lunar far side and the first images from the Lunar surface. While a manned landing was never accomplished, the final phase of Soviet exploration included a number of impressive robotic missions, returning samples and roving the surface. (Click on images to see full-sized versions)
Luna-3
On October 7, 1959, Luna-3 returned the first images of the hidden side of the Moon. Using a phototelevision camera, pairs of images were simultaneously exposed through 200mm and 500mm lenses. The Luna-3 camera was developed by P.F. Bratslavets and I.A. Rosselevich at the Leningrad Scientific Research Institute of Television. The images were processed and analyzed by Iu.N. Lipskii and his team at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute.
The camera held 40 frames of film, and 15 images (frames 26 to 40) were received via frequency-modulated analog video. Frames 39 and 40 may have contained calibration patterns. The full moon appears to have very little detailed texture, because the lunar mountains and terrain casts no shadows when lit from overhead. A special thanks to Dr. Vladislav Shevchenko at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute for making scans of the original film recordings for me. Blank frames indicate images that I do not have yet:
Frame 26
Frame 27
Frame 28
Frame 29
Frame 30
Frame 31
Frame 32
Frame 33
Frame 34
Frame 35
Frame 36
Frame 37
Frame 38
The video signal from Luna-3 was higher quality than usually supposed. A photograph made in 1965 from the magnetic tape shows sharper detail and greater dynamic range:
Frame 26 (1965 recording)
Two types of test patterns were included on the Luna-3 film, a standard Soviet television chart and a type of zebra-stripe resolution chart called Shtrichovaya Mira. These are not actual images from Luna-3, they just illustrate what was imprinted on the film.
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Shtrichovaya Mira
Zond-3
One July 20, 1965, Zond-3 was the second spacecraft to view the far side of the Moon. This model 3MV spacecraft was actually designed for missions to Mars and Venus. Using a phototelevision camera, 29 frames were exposed. The Zond-3 camera was developed by A.S. Selivanov and his team at the Institute of Space Device Engineering. The images were processed and analyzed by Iu.N. Lipskii and his team at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Frames 1 and 2 were probably pre-exposed test patterns and have not been published, frames 8-10 contained an ultraviolet spectrum, and frame 25 was never received. Using digital pulse-position modulation, all frames were scanned and transmitted in 67-line resolution, and selected images were retransmitted at 1100-line resolution:
Frame 3
Frame 4
Frame 5
Frame 6
Frame 7
Frames 8 to 10
Frame 11
Frame 12
Frame 13
Frames 14
Frame 15
Frame 16
Frame 17
Frames 18
Frame 19
Frame 20
Frame 21
Frames 22
Frame 23
Frame 24
Frame 26
Frames 27
Frame 28
Frame 29
Luna-9
On February 3, 1966, Luna-9 became the first spacecraft to land on the Moon. On February 4 and 5, it transmitted 3 cycloramic panoramas from an optical-mechanical camera. The camera was developed by A.S. Selivanov and his team at the Institute of Space Device Engineering, and the results were analyzed at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute and by A.I. Lebedinskii at Moscow University. The images were transmitted as analog FM video signals at one stroke per second over a 250 Hz subcarrier (equivalent to 500 pixels/line).
Panorama 1
Panorama 2
Panorama 3
The photo below, shows a section of Panorama 2 printed from a British recording of the Luna-9 signal at Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory:
Luna-12
Luna-12 entered orbit on October 25, 1966, carrying two phototelevision cameras of the same variety as Zond-3. This was the first Soviet craft to take close up pictures from orbit, but only a few images have ever been published:
Luna-13
On December 24, 1966, Luna-13 made the second Soviet landing on the Moon. It transmitted 5 cycloramas over a period of several days (note shadows becoming less elongated).
Panorama 1
Panorama 2
Panorama 3
Panorama 4
Panorama 5
Zond-5
On September 18, 1968, Zond-5 became the first spacecraft to circle the Moon and return to land on Earth. The camera systems on Zond-5 through Zond-8 were designed by a team under Boris N. Rodionov at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK). They also performed most of the analysis of the returned images. It photographed the Earth from a distance of 90,000 km, but a subsequent malfunction of the orientation system prevented it from photographing the Moon:
Zond-6
Zond-6 flew around the Moon on November 14, 1968. It carried the AFA-BAM camera with 400 mm objecitve, shooting on 13 × 18 cm frames of isopanchromatic film. A session of 111 frames was performed at a distance of 9290-6843 km, and another session of 58 frames from 2660-2430 km.
A crash landing on Earth flattened and broke open the film canister, but 52 photographs were recovered with some degree of laceration and fogging. Only a few fragments of Zond-6 images have been published. A mosaic image was constructed from the recovered imagery, shown below as the last image. Poor print quality, not film damage, is the reason for the low quality of the first and thrid image below:
Zond-7
Zond-7 photographed the Earth on August 9 and performed two photo sessions at the Moon on August 11, 1969. It shot 35 pictures with the SKD camera and 300 mm objective, on 5.6 × 5.6 cm frames of color and panchromatic film:
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Television Test Card 0249
Shtrichovaya Mira
