Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2 in the History of Lunar Studies

Lunokhod-1 was launched from Earth on November 10, 1970 onboard of authomatic station Luna-17; and on November 17 it landed in the north-western part of the Mare Imbrium plain. It worked for eleven lunar days and run 9.9 km. Lunokhod-2 was launched from Earth on January 8, 1973 onboard of authomatic station Luna-21 and on January 15 it landed in the plain terrain of the crater Lemonier, a bay of Mare Serenitatis. It worked little more than four lunar days and run 39.1 km. Both Lunokhods were equipped with four panoramic television cameras. Analyses of their images allowed to obtain interesting data on topography and geologic structure of lunar surface. Also Lunokhods had X-ray fluorescence spectrometers and the equipment for the rover trafficability estimation, which acquired the data on chemical composition and physical and mechanical properties of the soil, as well as the corner reflector, laser location of which provided data on internal structure of the Moon. Also on Lunokhod-1 was collimated X-ray telescope and on Lunokhod-2 — magnetometer and astrophotometer. Nowadays an interest in the results obtained by the lunar rovers is renewed. Recently, at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, a database of TV panoramas obtained by the first Soviet lunar rovers was created. Let’s hope for the fast implementation of the planned second-generation of Russian Lunar project, which include, among other things, a new version of the rover.