Kosmos 111
{{Short description|Failed Soviet lunar orbiter}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = Kosmos 111
| image = Luna 10 Musee du Bourget P1010504.JPG
| image_caption = Kosmos 111 is identical in design with Luna 10
| mission_type = Lunar orbiter
| operator = Soviet space program
| COSPAR_ID = 1966-017A
| SATCAT = 2093
| mission_duration = {{time interval|1 March 1966|3 March 1966}}
| spacecraft_type = E-6S
| manufacturer = GSMZ Lavochkin
| dry_mass = 1580 kg
| power =
| launch_date = 1 March 1966, 11:03:49 GMT
| launch_rocket = Molniya-M
| launch_contractor =
| disposal_type = Launch failure
| decay_date = 3 March 1966
| orbit_epoch = 1 March 1966
| orbit_reference = Geocentric
| orbit_regime = Low Earth
| orbit_periapsis = 182 km
| orbit_apoapsis = 194 km
| orbit_inclination = 51.9°
| orbit_period = 88.6 minutes
| apsis = gee
| programme = Luna programme
| previous_mission = Luna 9
| next_mission = Luna 10
| programme2 = Kosmos (satellites)
| previous_mission2 = Kosmos 110
| next_mission2 = Kosmos 112
}}
Kosmos 111 ({{langx|ru|Космос 111}} meaning Cosmos 111), E-6S No.204,{{Cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan |publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|access-date=28 March 2020}} was the first Soviet attempt to orbit a spacecraft around the Moon. The design was similar to the future successful Luna 10 spacecraft.{{Cite book|title=Spaceflight and Rocketry|last=Baker|first=David|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|year=1996|isbn=0-8160-1853-7|location=New York, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/spaceflightrocke00bake/page/191]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/spaceflightrocke00bake/page/191}} Kosmos 111 was produced in less than a month, one of two spacecraft developed from the E-6 lander bus in a crash program to upstage America's Lunar Orbiter series and to commemorate the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), held in March 1966.{{cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/kosmos-111/in-depth/|title=Kosmos 111 (Luna)|publisher=NASA|access-date=March 25, 2019|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326025156/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/kosmos-111/in-depth/|url-status=dead}}
Spacecraft
Kosmos 111 was designated an E-6S spacecraft, consisting of an E-6 bus attached to a cylindrical pressurized 245 kg lunar orbiter module. It was {{convert|1.5|m|ft}} tall and {{convert|75|cm|ft}} in diameter at the base. The main propulsion systems for lunar orbit insertion were on the bus, and the science payload was carried on the orbiter module. The payload comprised seven instruments: a gamma-ray spectrometer for energies between 0.3–3 MeV, a triaxial magnetometer (on the end of a 1.5-meter boom), a piezoelectric micrometeoroid detector, instruments for solar-plasma studies, devices for measuring infrared emissions from the Moon, low energy X-ray detectors, and a bank of charged particle detectors. Additionally, the radio system can be used for gravitational and radio occultation studies. The lunar orbiting module was battery-powered and communications were via 183 MHz and 922 MHz aerials.{{cite web|title=Cosmos 111: Display 1966-017A |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-017A|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|date=27 February 2020|access-date=28 March 2020}} {{PD-notice}}
Scientific instruments
Mission
This mission was intended to orbit the Moon and was configured identically to the future Luna 10 mission (1966-027A). It was launched on 1 March 1966 at 11:03:49 GMT via Molniya 8K78M s/n U15000-50 rocket from Site 31/6 into Earth parking orbit, but the Blok-L upper stage lost roll control and failed to fire the spacecraft into a lunar trajectory. It had a perigee of {{convert|182|km}}, an apogee of {{convert|194|km}}, an inclination of 51.9°, and an orbital period of 88.6 minutes.{{cite web|title=Cosmos 111: Trajectory 1966-017A|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1966-017A|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|date=27 February 2020|access-date=28 March 2020}} It was designated Kosmos 111 and reentered two days after launch, on 3 March 1966.
The craft weighed {{convert|6540|kg|lb}} and was not immediately acknowledged to be a Luna vehicle after its destruction. The official Soviet media named the stranded satellite Kosmos 111.{{cite web|last1=Siddiqi|first1=Asif A.|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf|publisher=NASA|date=2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
- [http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna.php Zarya - Luna programme chronology]
{{Luna programme}}
{{Orbital launches in 1966}}
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