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| A Luna 12 lunar orbit cover postmarked in Tartu with a hand cancel on October 25, 1966. |
Luna 12 entered lunar orbit on October 25, 1966, and transmitted high-resolution photographs of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) and the Aristarchus crater, with resolutions of about 15 to 20 meters. The images were automatically developed and scanned aboard the spacecraft before transmission to Earth. Luna 12 also carried instruments to study lunar radiation, magnetism, temperature, and micrometeoroids, and tested an electric motor developed for the future Lunokhod rover. The spacecraft remained operational for nearly three months, completing 602 lunar orbits before radio contact ceased on January 19, 1967, after its batteries were exhausted.
