Roskosmos has declassified documents on the Soviet lunar program. Copies of historical artifacts are published on the website of the state corporation.
The documents concerning the lunar program of the USSR were published in connection with the 50th anniversary of the delivery of lunar soil to the Earth by the Luna-16 space station. The document, dated September 1970, says that as a result of the space mission, the automatic interplanetary station has set several records. In particular, the device made a soil sampling, independently took off from the Moon and returned to Earth with a valuable cargo.
On November 17, 1970, Soviet scientists prepared a report on the preliminary results of a study of the physical properties of the lunar soil. On December 21, an order was published by the Minister of General Machine Building of the USSR, according to which awards were assigned to developers and manufacturers of ground space infrastructure facilities.
Documents are also available on the website of the state corporation, which describe the stages of preparation for a mission to deliver soil from the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth. For example, in a document dated August 1965, the technical characteristics of object E-8, a rocket and space system for delivering a self-propelled laboratory to the lunar surface, are reported. On January 8, 1969, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 19-10 “On the plan of work for the exploration of the Moon, Venus and Mars by automatic stations” was issued.
The Luna-16 complex, consisting of a landing platform, a drilling rig and a return rocket with a descent vehicle, was sent to the Moon on September 12, 1970. Eight days later, he landed in the Sea of Plenty region. Having received samples of the material, the device went back and on September 24 delivered the cargo to Earth. As a result of the mission, Soviet scientists received 101 grams of lunar soil.
