View source for Luna 22

{{Short description|Soviet lunar orbiter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = ''Luna 22''
| image                 = 
| image_caption         =

| mission_type          = Lunar orbiter
| operator              = Soviet space program
| COSPAR_ID             = 1974-037A
| SATCAT                = 7315
| mission_duration      = {{time interval|29 May 1974|November 1975|show=ymd}}

| spacecraft_bus       = Ye-8-LS
| manufacturer          = [[Lavochkin|GSMZ Lavochkin]]
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = {{Convert|5700|kg}}<ref name=beyondearth/>
| dimensions            = 
| power                 =

| launch_date           = {{start-date|29 May 1974, 08:56:51|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC<ref name=beyondearth/>
| launch_rocket         = [[Proton-K]]/[[Blok D|D]]<ref name=nasa/>
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81|81/24]]
| launch_contractor     =

| deactivated           = Early {{end-date|November 1975}}
| decay_date            =

| orbit_epoch           = 
| orbit_reference       = [[selenocentric orbit|Selenocentric]]
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|219|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|222|km|mi}} 
| orbit_inclination     = 19.35&nbsp;degrees
| orbit_period          = 130&nbsp;minutes
| orbit_semimajor       = {{convert|6598.3|km}}
| orbit_eccentricity    = 0.18
| apsis                 = selene

|interplanetary         = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = orbiter
   |object              = [[Moon|Lunar]]
   |orbits              = ~3,875
   |arrival_date        = 2 June 1974
   |location            = <!--impact site-->
 }}

| programme          = '''[[Luna programme]]'''
| previous_mission   = [[Luna 21]]
| next_mission       = [[Luna 23]]
}}
'''''Luna 22''''' (Ye-8-LS series) was an [[uncrewed space mission]], part of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Luna program]], also called '''''Lunik 22'''''.

==Overview==
{{More citations needed|date=July 2021}}
''Luna 22'' was a [[Moon|lunar]] orbiter mission. The spacecraft carried imaging cameras and also had the objectives of studying the [[Moon]]'s [[magnetic field]], surface gamma ray emissions and composition of lunar surface rocks, and the [[gravitational field]], as well as [[micrometeorite]]s and [[cosmic ray]]s. Luna 22 was launched into Earth [[parking orbit]] and then to the Moon. It was inserted into a circular lunar orbit on 2 June 1974. The spacecraft made many orbit adjustments over its 18-month lifetime in order to optimize the operation of various experiments, lowering the [[perilune]] to as little as 25 km. 

''Luna 22'' was the second of two "advanced" lunar orbiters, the first of which being ''[[Luna 19]] . The orbiter was'' designed to conduct extensive scientific surveys from orbit. Well in route to the Moon, ''Luna 20'' had to perform a single mid-course correction on 30 May, and entered lunar orbit on 2 June 1974. When the orbiter first entered orbit of the Moon, it started at periapsis altitude at {{Convert|219|km|mi}} and apoapsis altitude as {{Convert|222|km|mi}}, and an inclination of 19°35', these orbital parameters changed throughout its mission. Throughout the orbiters various orbital changes, Luna 22 had performed without any problems, and it continued to return photos fifteen months into its mission, past the conclusion of its primary mission, which had ended by 2 April 1975. The maneuvering propellant on the spacecraft was depleted on 2 September 1975, and the mission was formally concluded in early November 1975, following a highly successful mission. <ref name=beyondearth/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes]]

==References==
<references>
<ref name="nasa">
{{Cite web
| title= Luna 22
| url= https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1974-037A
| website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
| publisher= [[NASA]] }}
</ref>

<ref name="beyondearth">
{{ 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
| author1= Asif Siddiqi
| publisher= NASA History Program Office
| edition= second
| year= 2018
| isbn= 9781626830431 }}
</ref>
</references>

==External links==
* [http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna.php Zarya - Luna programme chronology]
* [http://mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogMoon.htm Catalog of Soviet Luna Probe images]

{{Luna programme}}
{{Moon spacecraft}}
{{Orbital launches in 1974}}

[[Category:Luna programme]]
[[Category:Missions to the Moon]]
[[Category:1974 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:1974 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Satellites orbiting the Moon]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1974]]
[[Category:Non Earth orbiting satellites of the Soviet Union]]