Editing Luna 16 (section)

==Mission summary==
The ''Luna 16'' automated station was launched toward the Moon from a preliminary Earth orbit and after one mid-course correction on 13 September it entered a circular 111&nbsp;km with 70° inclination lunar orbit on 17 September 1970.
The lunar gravity was studied from this orbit. After two orbital adjustments were performed on 18 and 19 September the [[perilune]] was decreased to 15.1&nbsp;km, as well as the inclination altered in preparation for landing. At perilune at 05:12&nbsp;[[UTC]] on 20 September, the main braking engine was fired, initiating the descent to the lunar surface. Six minutes later, at 05:18&nbsp;UT, the spacecraft safely soft-landed in its target area at 0°41' south latitude and 56°18' east longitude, in the northeast area of [[Mare Fecunditatis]] (Sea of Fertility) approximately 100 kilometers west of [[Webb (crater)|Webb crater]] and 150&nbsp;km north of [[Langrenus (crater)|Langrenus crater]]. 

This was the first landing made in lunar night, as the Sun had set about 60 hours earlier. The main descent engine cut off at an altitude of 20&nbsp;m, and the landing jets cut off at 2&nbsp;m height at a velocity less than 2.4&nbsp;m/s, followed by vertical free fall. The mass of the spacecraft at landing was 1,880 kilograms. Less than an hour after landing, at 06:03&nbsp;UT, an automatic drill penetrated the lunar surface to collect a soil sample. After drilling for seven minutes, the drill reached a stop at 35 centimeters depth and then withdrew its sample and lifted it in an arc to the top of the spacecraft, depositing the lunar material in a small spherical capsule mounted on the main spacecraft bus. The column of [[regolith]] in the drill tube was then transferred to the soil sample container.<ref name=Wilson/>

After 26 hours and 25 minutes on the lunar surface, at 07:43&nbsp;UT on 21 September, the spacecraft's upper stage lifted off from the Moon. The lower stage of ''Luna 16'' remained on the lunar surface and continued transmission of lunar temperature and radiation data. Three days later, on 24 September, after a direct ascent traverse with no mid-course corrections, the capsule, with its 101 grams of lunar soil, reentered Earth's atmosphere at a velocity of 11 kilometers per second. The capsule parachuted down 80 kilometers southeast of the town of [[Jezkazgan]] in [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]] at 05:25&nbsp;UT on 24 September 1970. Analysis of the dark basalt material indicated a close resemblance to soil recovered by the American [[Apollo 12]] mission.<ref name=Wilson/>

According to the [[Bochum Observatory]] in [[Federal Republic of Germany|Germany]], strong and good-quality television pictures were returned by the spacecraft. ''Luna 16'' was a landmark success for the Soviets in their deep-space exploration program; the mission accomplished the first fully automatic recovery of soil samples from the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

A 0.4825&nbsp;g sample of material from a depth of 27&nbsp;cm was sent to Britain.<ref name=pillingersamp>{{cite journal |last1=Pillinger |first1= Colin Trevor |last2=Gowar |first2=A.P |date=4 January 1977 |title=The separation and subdivision of two 0.5g samples of lunar soil collected by the Luna 16 and 20 missions |journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.1977.0003 |volume=284 |issue=1319 |pages=137–143|doi=10.1098/rsta.1977.0003|bibcode= 1977RSPTA.284..137P |s2cid= 119730403 }} </ref>