Soviet Lunar Images |
Soviet Lunar Images |
Jun 28 2005, 04:49 PM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10227 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Here's another very interesting and little known topic, so this is a chance to ask or to post about it.
I am looking for information on the Soviet Union's lunar missions. Actually I have lots already, but you can always use a bit more. Specifically, consider this question: what areas were photographed by the Soviet lunar orbiters, Lunas 12, 19 and 22? First I must say that these were NOT systematic mapping missions, they were tests of experimental imaging systems, and the SU never undertook any systematic mapping of the Moon. So coverage is limited. I have searched high and low for images from these missions, helped especially by the extremely talented and knowledgeable Don Mitchell. For this post I'm going to stick to Luna 19, coming back to the others later. Between us, Don and I have located five Luna 19 images, often of very poor quality (photocopies of prints from magazines, microfilm of russian newspapers, etc.) I reprojected them into approximate mapping geometry and then searched for their locations on the Moon. Result, the first ever (AFAIK) index map of Luna 19 coverage. When I was in Moscow I asked for this but got nowhere, and I'm not sure they ever did it, or certainly didn't publish it. The area often reported as the focus of Luna 19 images refers in fact only to one orbit. So, here's the index map; and if anybody can track down any OTHER Luna 19 images I would be VERY grateful for the information. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Jun 30 2005, 07:34 PM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10227 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Nice images, Ted! Thanks.
Below I have attached the Luna 22 coverage map. This map also has a pair of images above it: one original Luna 22 image and the same image rectified (like Ted's). Luna 19 and Luna 22 both imaged with a scanner which scanned from horizon to horizon, and then potentially from terminator to terminator. The actual length of the imaging tracks is unknown. For Luna 19, for instance, we have only 5 small fragments... are they all that were made, or just bits of long panoramic images? For Luna 22 (see my map) we have longer images. But the full extent is still not known. Both of Ted's images fall in areas I have already mapped (alas!). The first crater is Ptolemaeus, the second Gutenberg. In Moscow, I was shown the negatives from Luna 22, kept in a safe in the Department of Lunar and Planetary Research at Sternberg State Astronomical Institute. But I could not copy them, or learn anything useful about coverage. My material came from a set at Flagstaff. Don Mitchell also found prints of a few images in magazines or books. But if anyone finds a new one let me know! Posterity will thank you. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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