View source for Luna 13

{{Short description|1966 crewless Soviet spacecraft}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Luna 13
| image                 = Luna13 lander vsm.jpg
| image_caption         =

| mission_type          = Lunar lander
| operator              = Soviet space program
| COSPAR_ID             = 1966-116A 
| SATCAT                = 02626
| mission_duration      = 6 days, 19 h, 56 min.

| spacecraft_type       = 
| manufacturer          = [[Lavochkin|GSMZ Lavochkin]]
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = 1,620 kg<ref name=beyond>{{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|isbn=9781626830431}}</ref>
| dimensions            = 
| power                 =

| launch_date           = 21 December 1966, 10:17:08 UTC<ref name=beyond/>
| launch_rocket         = [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya-M 8K78M]]
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1|Site 1/5]]
| launch_contractor     = 
| last_contact          = 28 December 1966, 06:13 GMT

| orbit_epoch           = 
| orbit_reference       = <!--transfer orbit-->
| orbit_periapsis       = 
| orbit_apoapsis        = 
| orbit_inclination     = 
| apsis                 =

|interplanetary         = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = lander
   |object              = [[Moon|Lunar]]
   |arrival_date        = 24 December 1966, 18:04 GMT
   |location            = {{Coord|18.87|N|62.05|W|globe:Moon|display=inline}} <ref>{{cite web|url = https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-116A|title = NASA NSSDC Master Catalog - Luna 13|access-date = 24 December 2010}}</ref>
 }}

| programme          = '''[[Luna programme]]'''
| previous_mission   = [[Luna 12]]
| next_mission       = ''[[Luna E-6LS No.112|Luna 1968A]]''
}}
'''Luna 13''' (E-6M series) was an [[uncrewed spacecraft|uncrewed space mission]] of the [[Luna program]] by Soviet Union.

==Overview==
The Luna 13 spacecraft was launched toward the Moon onboard a [[Molniya-M]] and accomplished a soft landing on 24 December 1966, in the region of [[Oceanus Procellarum]] ("Ocean of Storms").<ref name=Ulivi76>{{cite book |last1=Ulivi |first1=Paolo |last2=Harland |first2= David M |date=2004 |title=Lunar Exploration Human Pioneers and Robot Surveyors  |publisher=Springer |pages=76–77 |isbn=185233746X }}</ref>

The petal encasement of the spacecraft was opened, antennas were erected, and radio transmissions to Earth began four minutes after the landing. On 25 and 26 December 1966, the spacecraft television system transmitted panoramas of the nearby lunar landscape at different Sun angles. Each panorama required approximately 100 minutes to transmit. The spacecraft was equipped with a mechanical soil-measuring [[penetrometer]], a [[dynamograph]], and a [[radiation densitometer]] for obtaining data on the mechanical and physical properties and the [[cosmic ray]] reflectivity of the lunar surface. Transmissions from the spacecraft ceased on 28 December 1966.<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 |pages=97-98 |url=https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0764356755 |access-date=20 October 2024}}</ref>

Luna 13 became the third spacecraft to land successfully on the surface of the Moon (after [[Luna 9]] and the American [[Surveyor 1]]). The probe landed in the Ocean of Storms at 18:01 UT on 24 December 1966, between the [[Krafft (crater)|Krafft]] and [[Seleucus (crater)|Seleucus]] craters at 18°52' north latitude and 62°3' west longitude. Unlike its predecessor, the heavier Luna 13 lander (113 kilograms) carried a suite of scientific instruments in addition to the usual imaging system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-13/in-depth|title=In Depth {{!}} Luna 13|website=NASA Solar System Exploration|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-date=18 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818160928/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-13/in-depth/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A three-axis accelerometer within the pressurized frame of the lander recorded the landing forces during impact to determine the soil structure down to a depth of {{convert|20|to|30|cm|in}}. A pair of spring-loaded booms were also deployed. One of these booms carried a [[penetrometer]], designed to measure the forces required to penetrate the lunar [[regolith]] – the penetrating force being supplied by a minute explosive charge. The other boom carried a [[backscatter]] [[densitometer]] that was used to infer the density of the lunar near-surface regolith. Four radiometers recorded infrared radiation from the surface indicating a noon temperature of 117 ±3&nbsp;°C while a radiation detector indicated that radiation levels would be less than hazardous for humans.

The lander returned a total of five panoramas of the lunar surface, showing a more smooth terrain than seen by Luna 9. One of the two cameras (intended to return stereo images) failed, but this did not diminish the quality of the photographs. The penetrometer measured the regolith density at 800&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref name=Ulivi76 />

After a fully successful mission, contact was lost at 06:13 UTC on 28th of December when the on-board batteries were exhausted.

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[List of artificial objects on the Moon]]
* [[List of missions to the Moon]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogMoon.htm Soviet Lunar Images]

{{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:Soft landings on the Moon]]
[[Category:1966 on the Moon]]