Editing Luna 11

{{Short description|Soviet lunar orbiter}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Luna 11
| image                 = 1966 CPA 3381.jpg
| image_caption         = Stamp commemorating Luna 11

| mission_type          = Lunar orbiter
| operator              = Soviet space program
| COSPAR_ID             = 1966-078A
| SATCAT                = 02406
| mission_duration      = 38 days

| spacecraft_type       = [[E-6LF]]
| manufacturer          = [[NPO Lavochkin|GSMZ Lavochkin]]
| dry_mass              = 1136 kg
| launch_mass           = 1640 kg<ref name=Luna11>{{cite book|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016|last1=Siddiqi|first1=Asif|publisher=NASA History Program Office|edition=second|year=2018}}</ref>
| power                 = 
| instruments           = Imaging system for lunar photography<br/>[[Gamma-ray spectrometer]]<br/>[[Magnetometer]]<br/>Radiation detectors<br/>Infrared radiometer<br/>Meteoroid detector<br/>R-1 transmission experiment

| launch_date           = 24 August 1966, 08:03:21 UTC<ref name=Luna11/> 
| launch_rocket         = [[Molniya-M]] 8K78M  
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31|Site 31/6]]
| launch_contractor     = [[TsSKB-Progress]]

| last_contact          = 1 October 1966
| decay_date            = Late 1966 or Early 1967

| orbit_epoch           = 24 August 1966 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-078A|title=NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Trajectory Details|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|access-date=2018-05-02}}</ref>
| orbit_reference       = [[selenocentric orbit|Selenocentric]]
| orbit_periapsis       = 1898 km
| orbit_apoapsis        = 2931 km 
| orbit_inclination     = 27°
| orbit_period          = 178 minutes
| apsis                 = selene

|interplanetary         =  
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = orbiter
   |object              = [[Moon|Lunar]]
   |orbits              = 277
   |arrival_date        = 27 August 1966, 21:49 GMT
   |location            = <!--impact site-->
}}

| programme          = '''[[Luna programme]]'''
| previous_mission   = [[Luna 10]]
| next_mission       = [[Luna 12]]
}}

'''Luna 11''' (E-6LF series) was an [[uncrewed space mission]] of the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Luna program]]. It was also called '''Lunik 11'''. Luna 11 was launched towards the [[Moon]] onboard a [[Molniya-M]] and entered lunar orbit on 27 August 1966.

== Overview ==
The objectives of the mission included the study of:
* lunar gamma and X-ray emissions in order to determine the Moon's chemical composition;
* lunar gravitational anomalies;
* the concentration of meteorite streams near the Moon;
* the intensity of hard [[corpuscular radiation]] near the Moon.

137 radio transmissions and 277 orbits of the Moon were completed before the batteries failed on 1 October 1966.

This subset of the "second-generation" Luna spacecraft, the E-6LF, was designed to take the first photographs of the surface of the Moon from lunar orbit. A secondary objective was to obtain data on mass concentrations ("mascons") on the Moon first detected by [[Luna 10]]. Using the Ye-6 bus, a suite of scientific instruments (plus an imaging system similar to the one used on [[Zond 3]]) replaced the small lander capsule used on the soft-landing flights. The resolution of the photos was 15 to 20 meters. To reduce problems caused by damage to the film due to solar radiation it was planned to take all photos within the first 24 hours of lunar orbits.<ref name=Ulivi72>{{cite book |last1=Ulivi |first1=Paolo |last2=Harland |first2= David M |date=2004 |title=Lunar Exploration Human Pioneers and Robot Surveyors  |publisher=Springer |page=72 |isbn=185233746X }}</ref> A technological experiment included testing the efficiency of gear transmission in a vacuum as a test for a future lunar rover.<ref name=Ulivi74>{{cite book |last1=Ulivi |first1=Paolo |last2=Harland |first2= David M |date=2004 |title=Lunar Exploration Human Pioneers and Robot Surveyors  |publisher=Springer |page=74 |isbn=185233746X }}</ref>

Luna 11, launched only two weeks after the U.S. [[Lunar Orbiter]], entered lunar orbit at 21:49 GMT on 27 August 1966. Parameters were 99 x 742 miles. During the mission, the TV camera failed to return usable images because the spacecraft lost proper orientation to face the lunar surface when a foreign object was lodged in the nozzle of one of the attitude-control thrusters. The other instruments functioned without fault before the mission formally ended on 1 October 1966 after the power supply had been depleted. The spacecraft eventually crashed on the moon on an unknown date.<ref name=Reichl>{{cite book |last1=Reichl |first1=Eugen |title=The Soviet Space Program The Lunar Years: 1959-1976 |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-7643-5675-9 |page=91 |url=https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0764356755 |access-date=20 October 2024}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

{{Luna programme}}
{{Moon spacecraft|state=autocollapse}}
{{Orbital launches in 1966}}

[[Category:Luna programme]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1966]]
[[Category:1966 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched by Molniya-M rockets]]
[[Category:Spacecraft that orbited the Moon]]
[[Category:Non Earth orbiting satellites of the Soviet Union]]