galacticjourney

The Soviets have done it again, reaching yet another milestone in space exploration before the Americans.

This time, the goal was the Moon's far side, which had never been seen before. The reason for this is that the Moon is tidally locked in its orbit around the Earth such that it cannot rotate (much as an object floating in water will stay fixed with is heavy end pointing down). As a result, humanity has only seen one side of the Moon for the entirety of human existence. Isaac Asimov once joked, in the form of a medicore science fiction tale, that there is no back side to the Moon--that it's really just a false front movie prop.

But there is a far side. We know this because the Soviets have sent its third "Lunik," formally named Luna 3, sailing around the Moon to take pictures of it. The results promise to be a darn-sight better than what we managed with Explorer 6 and a much closer target.



It is not a surprise that this new and improved Luna is such a capable craft. It weighs an impressive 278.5 kg, which is nearly twice as heavy as the American Atlas Able Pioneers, imminently scheduled for lunar launch. Not only does the new Soviet probe have a real movie camera on board, but it also mounts a slew of scientific experiments designed to probe the magnetic fields and charged particles of cislunar space. I'm really hoping that its measurements will shed light on why the Earth's magnetic field gets so wibbly and wobbly about 70,000 kilometers up; the leading current theory is that it is due to interactions with the sun's magnetic field.

Now, at this point, you're probably wondering why I haven't included Lunik's photos of the Moon. Well, the answer is simple: they haven't arrived yet. As I write, the probe is making its closest approach to the Moon. It will then fly about 70,000 kilometers beyond the Moon before circling back for a close pass by the Earth, whereupon it will transmit its photographic cargo. That will happen in just under two weeks.

Thus, my enthusiasm may be premature. It is quite possible that Luna 3 may suffer a catastrophic error that prevents it from sending pictures home or even taking pictures in the first place. Even if that happens, the Soviets will still have been the first to succeed at a tricky bit of orbital billiards.

---

P.S. Galactic Journey is now a proud member of a constellation of interesting columns. While you're waiting for me to publish my next article, why not give one of them a read!



(Confused? Click here for an explanation as to what's really going on)

Bet on the Russians to throw us a curve.

Last month, I crowed that America had won the Space Race in 1958 with the launching of Score, the first communications satellite, and of the mildly successful Pioneer series. Well, the Soviets apparently just wanted to give us a false feeling of security, because they have finally launched their own moon probe. They call it "Mechta" or "Dream," while the press has affectionately (or derisively, as they drink their sour grape punch) dubbed it "Lunik."

It takes a day-and-a-half to get to the moon, so the Reds may yet suffer a Pioneer-style setback halfway there. Nevertheless, the probe has already broken altitude records. Moreover, the craft weighs almost 800 pounds, dwarfing anything we put up in 1958. The U.S.S.R. clearly has a new rocket, and it's a doozy.

Interestingly, the Soviets have been rather cagy as to the exact purpose of this probe. Is it supposed to impact the moon? Is it supposed to enter lunar orbit, as was the intention of the American Pioneers? Or will it just fly by? All Moscow will say is, "The multi stage cosmic rocket has gone out according to its program on the trajectory of its movement in the direction of the moon." The excerpt below doesn't clarify much either, though it does sound ambitious:



The Soviets have announced that Mechta is carrying a similar slew of experiments to that carried on the Air Force Pioneers. These experiments are designed to investigate the intensity of magnetic fields around the Earth and moon, as well as the space in-between. They include a magnetometer, a geiger counter, a scintillation counter. There is also a micrometeorite detector on board. One has to wonder if these instruments are any better than the ones lofted in Pioneers 0-2; while they weigh an order of magnitude more, this may well be because the Soviets are behind us in miniaturization technology. On the other hand, it may be that the satellite is carrying a secret payload--perhaps there is another dog on board, or maybe a flea circus.

Lunik has made its mark on history already, however--literally. I am told that the probe released a cloud of sodium gas late last night when it was about a quarter of the way to the moon. I can think of two reasons for this. Scientifically, it allows us to determine the effects of the space environment on clouds of sodium gas. Politically, it proves that the Soviets actually did send a probe to the moon, their news outlets having skewed somewhat left of complete honesty in the past few decades.

So stay tuned. By January 5th, I shall either report to you of the triumphant success of the first Soviet lunar shot or of its failure. If the latter be the case, at least it will be in good company.

(Confused? Click here for an explanation as to what's really going on)