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| The Soviet Union launched Luna 13 on 21 December 1966, the third spacecraft to soft land on moon after Surveyor 1. Luna 13 landed on the lunar surface between the craters Selencus and Craft in the Oceans of Storms on 24 December 1966. It transmitted photographs of the lunar surface, which were shown in Moscow on Christmas day. The mission ended on December 30, 1966, when the spacecraft's supplies were depleted. |
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| In addition to camera equipment, Luna 13 carried a gamma radiation measuring device and a rod that was poked into the ground to determine its bearing strength. Experiments conducted on soil beneath the spacecraft showed that the mechanical properties of the moon's surface are similar to those common for ground on earth, though its surface density is much. Other instruments onboard measured dispersed radiation from a gamma source and recorded cosmic corpuscular radiation on the lunar surface. |
