Luna 24

Luna 24 was the last Soviet lunar landing mission and the last mission to return lunar samples until Chang'e 5 in 2020. It returned 170 grams of samples from Mare Crisium. Analysis later detected water molecules bound to the soil.

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Agency / Country

Soviet Space Program (Soviet Union)

Mission Status

LANDED

Launch / Target Year

1976

Spacecraft / Type

Luna 24

Landing Site Zone

Luna 24 Site (Mare Crisium)

Surface Coordinates

Lat 12.71°, Lon 62.21°

Mission Imagery & Gallery

Luna 24 photograph 1: Wikimedia Commons — Luna 24 spacecraft model showing the drill and return capsule design. Last Soviet lunar landing, August 18, 1976. (Public domain / Soviet Space Program) — Wikimedia Commons — Luna 24 spacecraft model showing the drill and return capsule design. Last Soviet lunar landing, August 18, 1976. (Public domain / Soviet Space Program)

Primary Achievement

Last Soviet lunar landing; first detection of water traces in lunar soil

Mission Objectives

Drill 2 m into Mare Crisium regolith
Return 170 g of deep core samples to Earth
Study internal structure of lunar regolith column

Timeline Events

1976-08-09 — Launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome
1976-08-18 — Lands in Mare Crisium
1976-08-18 — 2 m core drill deployed — 170 g collected
1976-08-22 — Return capsule lands in Siberia — last Soviet lunar sample return

Related Missions

Luna 20 (1972) · USSR
Luna 16 (1970) · USSR
Chang'e 5 (2020) · China

Historical & Technical Sources

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