On this day in space! Oct. 20, 1970: The Soviet Union launches last-ever Zond moon mission
On Oct. 20, 1970, the Soviet Union launched the Zond 8 spacecraft on a mission to the moon. Here's why it mattered.
On October 20, 1970, the Soviet Union launched its final Zond lunar mission, Zond 8. This was the culmination of a series of missions that had previously explored Venus and Mars. The Zond spacecraft was designed to test Soviet plans for sending cosmonauts to the moon, although those plans never materialized. By this point, the United States had already landed astronauts on the moon twice, and NASA had performed the first space rescue of the Apollo 13 crew.
Despite its primary objective of exploring the moon, Zond 8 was uncrewed. Nevertheless, it managed to capture remarkable images of Earthrise during its journey. The spacecraft completed a lunar flyby, coming as close as 1,120 kilometers to the moon's surface. After a malfunction causing it to take a shorter, steeper reentry path, Zond 8 safely splashed down in the Indian Ocean on October 27, 1970.
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