Luna 3, launched on October 4, 1959, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, was the third Russian space probe sent to the Moon and the first to capture images of its far side. The probe made its closest approach to the Moon, coming within 6,200 km of the lunar surface near the south pole, at 14:16 UT on October 6, 1959. The first photograph was taken on October 7 at 03:30 UT from a distance of 63,500 km, followed by the last image captured 40 minutes later from 66,700 km away.
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| Photo: The Luna 3 spacecraft. |
Following the success of Luna 2, the Soviet Union launched Luna 3. Luna 3 became the first circumlunar probe to capture images of the far side of the moon. Three images were publicly released, along with a composite image of the entire far side of the moon, created from multiple frames. A total of 29 images were captured, covering 70% of the far side of the Moon. Once the photography was finished, the spacecraft resumed its spin, passed over the Moon's north pole, and headed back toward Earth. Attempts to transmit the images to the Soviet Union began on October 8, but initial efforts were unsuccessful due to weak signal strength. As Luna 3 approached Earth, approximately 17 viewable but low-quality photographs were successfully transmitted by October 18.
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| Philatelic exhibition covers feature a cachet commemorating the second anniversary of the space age. The postmark date of October 4, 1959 from Moscow, which is the opening day of the exhibition, coincides with the launch of Luna 3. |
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| A cover postmarked in Moscow on October 4, 1959, the opening day of the philatelic exhibition coinciding with the launch of Luna 3. |
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| Photo: An image of the dark side of the moon taken by Luna 3. |
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| A first day cover for the Luna 3 stamps. |
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| Luna 3's trajectory involved the spacecraft traveling from Earth, circling the moon, and returning. It reentered the Earth's atmosphere on April 20, 1960. |
All contact with Luna 3 was lost on 22 October 1959. Though it returned rather poor pictures by later standards, the historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative
Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon was created after image processing improved the pictures.
(Reference from
Luna 3)
