Space Cover 560: Luna 3The Russian satellite, Luna 3, was the third spacecraft successfully launched to the Moon. The spacecraft was the first craft to return images of the far side of the Moon.
Luna 3 was launched on a figure-eight trajectory which brought it over the Moon and around the sunlit far side. It was stabilized while in optical view of the far side of the Moon. On October 7, 1959, the television system obtained a series of 29 photographs over 40 minutes, covering 70% of the surface. The photographs were developed on-board the spacecraft, then scanned, and 17 were radio transmitted to ground stations in facsimile form on October 18, 1959, as the spacecraft, in a barycentric orbit, returned near the Earth. The photographs were to be retransmitted at another point close to Earth but were not received.
The images returned were very indistinct pictures, but, using computer imaging enhancement software, a tentative atlas of the lunar farside was produced.
These first views of the lunar far side showed mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and two dark regions which were named Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams).
Russia produced a set of stamps to commemorate the mission. Though very simple in design they are among my favorite stamps to see on covers.
The cover in the image at the top of the post is a Russian cover for the first anniversary of the arrival of Luna 3 over the far side of the Moon. It is franked with one of the Luna 3 stamps and has a pictorial postmark from Moscow for October 7, 1960 showing Luna 3 over the Moon.
Again, the simplicity of the cachet along with the clear image of the pictorial cancel make it a favorite.
There are many cachets and cancels documenting the Russian space flight program so while you are looking through dealer boxes you might look through the "foreign" dollar box of covers. I have found a number of early Russian covers for my collection that way.
posted 04-27-2020 10:33 PM
advertisement