 |
| A Luna 24 moon landing cover postmarked at Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, with a hand cancel on August 18, 1976, the date Luna 24 successfully landed in Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises). |
Launched from Baikonur on August 9, Luna 24 was a Soviet robotic sample-return mission that drilled approximately two metres into the lunar surface and collected about 170 grams of lunar soil. The sample was successfully returned to Earth on August 23, 1976. Luna 24 was the last successful Soviet lunar landing and the final mission of the Soviet Luna program to return lunar material to Earth.
