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| A Luna 22 launch cover, postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on May 29, 1974. |
Luna 22 was a Soviet unmanned lunar-orbiter mission, launched on May 29, 1974. It was the second of the Soviet Union's advanced lunar orbiters, following Luna 19, and was designed to conduct detailed scientific observations of the Moon from orbit.
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| A Luna 22 lunar-orbit cover, postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on June 2, 1974. |
After a mid-course correction on May 30, Luna 22 reached the Moon and entered lunar orbit on June 2, 1974. Unlike Luna 20, which was a lunar sample-return mission, Luna 22 was an orbiter. Its purpose was to make an extensive survey of the Moon's surface and surrounding environment. An elliptical orbit was established to facilitate photo surveying of the lunar surface, bringing the spacecraft within 15 to 30 km of the surface. Between June 9 and 13, it captured 10 panoramas using its optical-mechanical camera before moving back to a higher circular orbit to conduct additional experiments.
