Zond 5

Zond 5 (Russian: Зонд 5, lit. 'Probe 5') was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 Zond 5 travelled around the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory and became the first Moon mission to include animals and the first to return safely to Earth. This important mission marked a big step in space exploration.

The first terrestrial organisms to fly to the vicinity of the Moon, and beyond low Earth orbit, included two Russian tortoises, fruit fly eggs, and plants. These living creatures helped scientists learn more about how life can survive in space.

The Zond spacecraft was a version of the Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed lunar-flyby spacecraft. It was launched by a Proton-K carrier rocket with a Block D upper-stage to conduct scientific studies during its lunar flyby. This mission gave valuable information for future human space travel.

Background

The Soviet Union launched four missions to travel around the Moon, but only one, called Zond 4, was partly successful. The next mission, Zond 1968A, failed when a mistake during launch turned off part of the rocket too early. Luckily, the safety system worked and saved the spacecraft.

Later, while preparing another mission called Zond 1968B, a big explosion happened on the launch pad, which damaged the rocket but did not destroy the spacecraft. Because of these problems, the leaders decided that the next mission, Zond 5, would not carry any people. Instead, they sent it without a crew to test everything first.

Payload

The Zond 5 spacecraft carried a variety of living things to learn about space travel. Two Russian tortoises, along with fruit fly eggs, plants, and tiny green algae, traveled around the Moon and back to Earth. Scientists chose these creatures because they can survive in extreme conditions and can handle high levels of radiation.

The spacecraft also had special equipment, such as an imager to capture pictures of Earth and detectors to measure particles called protons. Some data was sent back to Earth during the mission, while other information was collected after the spacecraft returned.

Mission

Zond 5 launched on September 14, 1968, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It traveled around the Moon and became the first mission to carry living things beyond Earth’s orbit, including tortoises, fruit fly eggs, and plants.

The spacecraft splashed down in the Indian Ocean on September 21, 1968. Although it landed farther from its planned zone in Kazakhstan, the crew recovered the spacecraft and its biological specimens safely. The whole trip took just over six days.

Results and future plans

The Zond 5 mission took high-quality photographs of the Earth from a distance of 90,000 kilometres. British astronomer Bernard Lovell said this showed the Soviet Union was leading in the Space Race. Some people in the U.S. thought the mission was not as successful as claimed, but the Soviet news agency TASS announced that the flight carried living animals, including tortoises.

The tortoises on board lost a little weight during the trip but were otherwise healthy. The Soviet Union announced that Zond 5 was meant to help prepare for future trips to the Moon by people, even before the Apollo 8 mission.

Cosmonaut crew communications test and hoax

In September 1968, voices that seemed to come from astronauts on the Zond 5 spacecraft were picked up by the Jodrell Bank Observatory and the CIA. This happened during the Cold War, and some people in the United States worried that the Soviet Union might reach the Moon before NASA.

Later, astronaut Pavel Popovich explained that he and his team had played a joke. They connected a receiver to a transmitter and he spoke as if the spacecraft were near the Moon. This caused confusion until it was revealed to be a trick.

Location

The Zond 5 capsule can be seen at the RKK Energiya museum in Moscow Oblast, Russia. This museum shows many important spacecraft from space history.