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| A Luna 13 launch cover, postmarked in Tartu with a hand cancel on December 22, 1966, one day after the spacecraft’s launch. |
Luna 13 was a Soviet unmanned lunar lander launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 21, 1966. It successfully landed in Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) on December 24 at 18:01 UT, becoming the second Soviet spacecraft to make a successful soft landing on the Moon, following Luna 9 earlier that year.
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| A Luna 13 moon landing cover, postmarked in Tartu with a hand cancel on December 24, 1966. |
After landing, Luna 13 deployed its antennas and scientific instruments and began transmitting data and panoramic photographs of the lunar surface. Its two television cameras produced five panoramic views on December 25 to 26, showing a rocky, heavily pitted landscape. One camera experienced a failure, but useful panoramic imagery was still obtained. Luna 13 carried instruments to measure the mechanical strength and density of the lunar soil, including a penetrometer and radiation densitometer. It also measured surface temperature and radiation, providing data on the physical properties of the lunar surface.
Luna 13 operated for several days, with its final transmissions received on December 28, 1966, when its batteries were exhausted.
