Luna 24
AgencySoviet Union
Year1976
TypeMoon sample return
RocketProton-K
CountryUSSR
About the Mission
The last Soviet lunar mission, returning 170 grams from 2 meters deep in August 1976. Its core drilled deeper than any Apollo sample. No soft landing happened on the Moon again until Chang e 3 in 2013. The sealed samples stayed largely unstudied for decades. The quiet end of the first era of lunar exploration.
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