Luna 16

Luna 16 was an uncrewed 1970 space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program. It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth. The 101 grams sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first successful lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and was the third lunar sample return mission overall.

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1970  Wikimedia, Wikidata
space probe, artificial satellite, space mission, lunar lander, Proton-K, 

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Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

1970-09-12T00:00:00Z

1970-09-12T00:00:00Z

1970 Luna 16

1970-09-12T00:00:00Z

1970-09-12T00:00:00Z

rocket launch

1970-09-20T00:00:00Z

1970-09-20T00:00:00Z

Moon landing

1970-09-24T00:00:00Z

1970-09-24T00:00:00Z

landing

1970-09-17T00:00:00Z

1970-09-17T00:00:00Z

orbit insertion

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Frameless

Возвращаемый аппарат автоматической станции "Луна-16"

Artist's impression of Luna 16 landing on the Moon

Artist's impression of Luna 16 landing on the Moon

• Two episodes of lunar basaltic volcanism in Mare Fecunditatis as revealed by Luna-16 soil samples - scientific article published in April 2025, Q1860
• Argon-40-argon-39 chronology and petrogenesis along the eastern limb of the Moon from Luna 16, 20 and 24 samples - scholarly article, 2001

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
commons	image		Возвращаемый аппарат автоматической станции "Луна-16"		Commons
commons	image		Artist's impression of Luna 16 landing on the Moon		Commons
commons	image		Artist's impression of Luna 16 landing on the Moon		Commons