 |
| A Luna 11 launch cover, postmarked in Tartu with a hand cancel on August 24, 1966. |
Luna 11 was designed to photograph the lunar surface and study the Moon's environment. Its instruments included an imaging system, gamma-ray detector, magnetometer, radiation and infrared detectors, micrometeoroid detectors, and an R-1 transmission experiment. It also investigated the Moon's gravitational field and mass concentrations (mascons). However, a problem with the spacecraft's attitude-control system prevented the camera from being properly pointed at the lunar surface, so Luna 11 returned no useful photographs. Despite this, it continued transmitting scientific and engineering data until October 1, 1966.
