Russian Spacecraft In Moon Orbit

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31027, 5 April 1966, Page 17

Russian Spacecraft In Moon Orbit

(A.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright)

MOSCOW, April 4. Russia's Luna X unmanned spacecraft has gone into successful orbit around the moon.

The sputnik, launched last Wednesday with scientific instruments aboard, has become the first manmade satellite of the moon. The announcement was made this morning to 5000 delegates at. the Communist Party’s 23rd National Congress meeting in the Kremlin. The delegates broke into wild cheering when scientists relayed to them the highpitched strains of the “Internationale,” the Communist anthem, broadcast to earth by Luna X. The Sputnik was put on a selenocentric (new lunar) orbit at 9.44 p.m. Moscow time last night <6.44 N.Z. time April 4). Lunar X is orbiting the moon about every three hours coming as close as about 217 miles from the moon’s rocky surface. News of the Soviet Union’s latest space triumph was given by Moscow Radio from

the Kremlin’s Palace of Con-' gresses, where the party congress went into its sixth day of debate today. Tass said Lunar X’s orbit would reach a maximum distance of about 620 miles from the moon. The successful orbit was achieved by correcting the flight trajectory on Friday, two days after the sputnik was launched. Tass said an exact maneouvre was made by signals radioed from earth while it approached the moon. Lunar X carries scientific instruments for the explore-

Lion of near-lunar outer space, Tass said. The data It was picking up was being relayed to earth by means of a telemetric system.