15 September 1968, the Soviet Union launched the Zond (Probe) 5, the first spacecraft to circle the moon and return to Earth. The Zond 5 was a stripped down Soyuz vehicle, keeping the descent and service modules but not including the on-orbit or front module. The vehicle took amazing photos of the Earth from the Moon and carried several biological experiments, including two turtles. The turtles survived the lunar flyby and the reentry, losing 10% of their body mass, but maintain their appetites, proving that manned flight to the Moon was possible. This flight was in support of the ultimately cancelled Soviet Lunar program.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:00:42 +0000
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