View source for Luna 10

{{Short description|Soviet lunar probe launched in 1966; first artificial satellite of the Moon}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Luna 10
| image                 = File:Luna 10 Musee du Bourget P1010504.JPG
| image_caption         = Luna 10 mockup, Le Bourget (France)

| mission_type          = Lunar orbiter
| operator              = Soviet space program
| COSPAR_ID             = 1966-027A 
| SATCAT                = 02126
| mission_duration      = 60 days

| spacecraft_type       = [[E-6S]]
| manufacturer          = [[Lavochkin|GSMZ Lavochkin]]
| dry_mass              = 540 kg
| launch_mass           = 1,583.7 kg<ref name="Siddiqi" />
| power                 = 
| instruments           = Magnetometer<br />[[Gamma-ray spectrometer]]<br />Five gas-discharge counters<br />Two ion traps/charged particle trap<br />Piezoelectric micrometeorite detector<br />Infrared detector<br />Low-energy x-ray photon counters

| launch_date           = 31 March 1966, 10:46:59 UTC<ref name="Siddiqi" />
| launch_rocket         = [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya-M 8K78M]] 
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31|Site 31/6]]
| launch_contractor     =

| last_contact          = 30 May 1966
| decay_date            =

| orbit_epoch           = 
| orbit_reference       = [[selenocentric orbit|Selenocentric]]
| orbit_periapsis       = 349 km
| orbit_apoapsis        = 1015 km 
| orbit_inclination     = 71.9°
| orbit_period          = 178.05 minutes
| apsis                 = selene

|interplanetary         = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = orbiter
   |object              = [[Moon|Lunar]]
   |orbits              = 
   |arrival_date        = 3 April 1966, 18:44 GMT
   |location            = <!--impact site-->
 }}

| programme          = '''[[Luna programme]]'''
| previous_mission   = [[Kosmos 111]]
| next_mission       = [[Luna 11]]
}}

'''Luna 10''' ({{Langx|ru|Луна-10|4=Moon-10}}) or '''Lunik 10''' was a 1966 Soviet lunar [[robotic spacecraft]] mission in the [[Luna program]]. It was the [[List of extraterrestrial orbiters|first]] [[artificial satellite]] of the Moon,<ref name=Siddiqi>{{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|page=57|last1=Siddiqi|first1=Asif A.|lccn=2017059404 |isbn=9781626830424|publisher=NASA History Program Office|edition=second|year=2018|id=SP2018-4041|series=The NASA history series|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> and any other body other than Earth and the Sun (in [[heliocentric orbit]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A|title=Luna 10|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|access-date=2019-04-15|archive-date=27 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727112359/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A|url-status=live}}</ref>

Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of the Moon's [[magnetic field]],<ref>{{cite report|title=Measurements of the Magnetic Field in the Vicinity of the Moon on the AMS LUNA-10 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002918/downloads/19670002918.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082347/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002918/downloads/19670002918.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-19 |url-status=live|access-date=November 13, 2022}}</ref> its [[radiation belts]], and the nature of [[lunar rocks]] (which were found to be comparable to terrestrial [[basalt]] rocks),<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85249346.pdf |title=Measurements of Gamma Radiation of the Lunar Surface on the Space Station LUNA-10|access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082839/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85249346.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[cosmic radiation]], and [[micrometeoroid]] density. Perhaps its most important finding was the first evidence of [[mass concentration (astronomy)|mass concentration]]s (called "mascons") — areas of denser material below the lunar surface that distort lunar orbital trajectories.<ref name=Reichl/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVeY7vMCtOkC&dq=Luna+10+mascons&pg=PA107|title=Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration|first=Brian|last=Harvey|date=17 August 2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9780387739762|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|title=Determination of the Gravitational Field of the Moon by the Motion of the AMs LUNA-10|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002404/downloads/19670002404.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082318/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002404/downloads/19670002404.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-19 |url-status=live|access-date=November 13, 2022}}</ref>

==The spacecraft==
Part of the ''E-6S'' series, Luna 10 was battery powered and had an on-orbit dry mass of 540&nbsp;kg. Scientific instruments included a [[gamma ray|gamma-ray]] [[spectrometer]] for energies between 0.3&ndash;3 [[electronvolt|MeV]] (50&ndash;500 [[joule|pJ]]),<ref name="auto1"/> a triaxial [[magnetometer]], a [[meteorite]] detector, instruments for solar-plasma studies, and devices for measuring [[infrared]] emissions from the Moon and radiation conditions of the lunar environment. Gravitational studies were also conducted.<ref name="Drewexmachina">{{cite web |title=Luna 10: The First Lunar Satellite |url=https://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/03/31/luna-10-the-first-lunar-satellite/ |website=DREWexmachina |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>

==The flight==
Luna 10 launched towards the [[Moon]] on 31 March 1966 at 10:48 GMT.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-ooAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Luna+10%22+-wikipedia|title=A New Photographic Atlas of the Moon|first=Zdeněk|last=Kopal|date=23 September 1971|publisher=Taplinger|isbn=9780800855154|via=Google Books}}</ref>

After a midcourse correction on 1 April, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit on 3 April 1966 and completed its first orbit 3 hours later (on 4 April [[Moscow]] time).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdlaAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Luna+10%22&pg=PA3&article_id=7351,515261|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|via=Google Books}}</ref> A 245-kilogram<ref name="auto"/> instrument compartment separated from the main bus, which was in a 218 x 621 mile orbit inclined at 71.9° to the lunar equator. <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=89-90 |url=https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0764356755 |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>

Luna 10 operated for 460 lunar orbits and performed 219 active data transmissions before radio signals were discontinued on 30 May 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHQnAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Luna+10%22+-wikipedia|title=Soviet-bloc Research in Geophysics, Astronomy, and Space|date=19 November 1968|publisher=U.S. Joint Publications Research Service; may be ordered from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va|via=Google Books}}</ref> The spacecraft eventually crashed on the moon on an unknown date.<ref name="Reichl" />

==The Internationale==
The spacecraft carried a set of solid-state oscillators that had been programmed to reproduce the notes of "[[The Internationale]]", so that it could be broadcast live to the [[23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=shgiAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Luna+10%22&pg=PA9&article_id=7238,1198439|title=Soviet Says Satellite Orbits Moon|publisher=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|via=Google Books|access-date=November 13, 2022}}</ref> During a rehearsal on the night of 3 April, the playback went well, but the following morning, controllers discovered a missing note and played the previous night's tape to the assembled gathering at the Congress — claiming it was a live broadcast from the Moon.<ref name="Siddiqi" />
<gallery mode="thumb">
File:Luna 10 Space Probe.jpg|Replica of Luna 10 space probe, K. E. Tsiolkovsky Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
File:Laika ac Memorial Museum of Astronautics (6995717351).jpg|Luna 10 model (suspended), Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
File:1966 CPA 3380.jpg|Stamp of the Luna 10
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

{{Luna programme}}
{{Orbital launches in 1966}}
{{Moon spacecraft}}

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