| |
| | Luna 3 |
 | | Luna 3, an automatic interplanetary station, was equipped with radio communication and telemetering systems, a television system with an automatic film processing unit, a set of scientific instruments, systems for orientation relative to the sun and moon, solar cells for electric power supply, and a temperature control system. |
 | | On October 7, 1959, the television system obtained a series of photographs that were developed on-board the spacecraft. |
 | | The photographs were scanned and were radio transmitted to ground stations in facsimile form on October 18, 1959, as the spacecraft, in a barycentric orbit, returned near to the Earth. |
| www.solarviews.com /eng/luna3.htm (262 words) |
|