UNMANNED SOVIET CRAFT ON WAY TO MOON

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32703, 4 September 1971, Page 17

UNMANNED SOVIET CRAFT ON WAY TO MOON

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) MOSCOW, September 3A new Soviet space probe sped towards the moon today on a mission which may bring the second landing of a robot buggy on the earth’s nearest neighbour.

The craft, Luna 18, was launched yesterday in the first major burst of publicised Soviet space activity since last June’s Soyuz 11 flight, w’hich ended in the death of three cosmonauts.

The Soviet news agency, Tass, said that the probe was intended to continue axploration of the moon and .'Pace around it, but gave .no clue about its specific programme. The news agency earlier reported that Russia’s Lunokhod moon buggy, landed on the moon’s Sea of Rains last November aboard Luna 17, was recharging its solar batteries and had transmitted data back to earth twice this week. The eight-wheeled buggy

has surprised its designers by lasting several months longer than planned and the directors of the Soviet space programme may want to follow up its success perhaps with remote-controlled exploration of another area of the moon.

Another possibility was that the new probe would soft-land on the moon to conduct a joint experiment with Lunokhod before the buggy’s solar batteries failed compltely. Lunokhod was reported losing power last May and has apparently moved little, if at all during its last two lunar days. In all, however, it has covered over six miles. In its brief report on yesterday’s launch, Tass said that the automatic station was heading for the moon

after leaving earth orbit on a course close to plan. Luna 18 was in stable radio contact with ground control and its transmissions showed that equipment on board was working normally. Apart from the landing of Lunokhod, earlier craft in the Luna series have pulled off such space successes as the first soft-landing on another world and the first automatic collection and return to earth of moon dust samples. The launching of Russia’s latest moon probe is sure to add fuel to a growing controversy over the United States role in lunar exploration after next year’s final Apollo landing, according to officials in Houston, Texas. Space agency scientists withheld comment on the Soviet launching pending

further information on its exact role. But they were hopeful that if it did land and send back samples, the Russians would again share the material with the Americans as they did with the Luna 16 sample. Meanwhile, there is a mounting chorus of calls to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States space agency, to reconsider its decision to cancel the moon flights of Apollo 18 and Apollo 19 for budgetary reasons. On Wednesday, a top lunar scientist, Dr Gary Latham, joined these demands, which have grown stronger since the huge success of Apollo 15 last month, seen as “the great leap forward,” in scientific returns from the moon.