Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center
Launch Date: 1970-10-20 Launch Site/Country: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. Launch Vehicle: Proton Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages On-orbit dry mass: 5375.00 kg. (11,825 lb.)
Description
Zond 8 was launched from an Earth orbiting platform, Tyazheliy Sputnik, towards the Moon. The announced objectives were investigations of the Moon and circumlunar space and testing of onboard systems and units. The spacecraft obtained photographs of the Earth on October 21 from a distance of 64,480 kilometers (40,070 miles). The spacecraft transmitted flight images of the earth for
three days. Zond 8 flew past the Moon on October 24, 1970, at a distance of
1,110.4 kilometers (690 miles) and obtained both black and white and color photographs of the
lunar surface. Scientific measurements were also obtained during the flight.
Zond 8 reentered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down in the Indian
Ocean on October 27, 1970.
Space History