Luna 10

{{Short description|Soviet lunar probe launched in 1966; first artificial satellite of the Moon}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Luna 10

| image = File:Luna 10 Musee du Bourget P1010504.JPG

| image_caption = Luna 10 mockup, Le Bourget (France)

| mission_type = Lunar orbiter

| operator = Soviet space program

| COSPAR_ID = 1966-027A

| SATCAT = 02126

| mission_duration = 60 days

| spacecraft_type = E-6S

| manufacturer = GSMZ Lavochkin

| dry_mass = 540 kg

| launch_mass = 1,583.7 kg

| power =

| instruments = Magnetometer
Gamma-ray spectrometer
Five gas-discharge counters
Two ion traps/charged particle trap
Piezoelectric micrometeorite detector
Infrared detector
Low-energy x-ray photon counters

| launch_date = 31 March 1966, 10:46:59 UTC

| launch_rocket = Molniya-M 8K78M

| launch_site = Baikonur, Site 31/6

| launch_contractor =

| last_contact = 30 May 1966

| decay_date =

| orbit_epoch =

| orbit_reference = Selenocentric

| orbit_periapsis = 349 km

| orbit_apoapsis = 1015 km

| orbit_inclination = 71.9°

| orbit_period = 178.05 minutes

| apsis = selene

|interplanetary =

{{Infobox spaceflight/IP

|type = orbiter

|object = Lunar

|orbits =

|arrival_date = 3 April 1966, 18:44 GMT

|location =

}}

| programme = Luna programme

| previous_mission = Kosmos 111

| next_mission = Luna 11

}}

Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon,{{cite book |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016|page=57|last1=Siddiqi|first1=Asif A.|lccn=2017059404 |isbn=9781626830424|publisher=NASA History Program Office|edition=second|year=2018|id=SP2018-4041|series=The NASA history series|location=Washington, D.C.}} and any other body other than Earth and the Sun (in heliocentric orbit).{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A|title=Luna 10|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|access-date=2019-04-15|archive-date=27 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727112359/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A|url-status=live}}

Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of the Moon's magnetic field,{{cite report|title=Measurements of the Magnetic Field in the Vicinity of the Moon on the AMS LUNA-10 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002918/downloads/19670002918.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082347/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002918/downloads/19670002918.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-19 |url-status=live|access-date=November 13, 2022}} its radiation belts, and the nature of lunar rocks (which were found to be comparable to terrestrial basalt rocks),{{Cite web |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85249346.pdf |title=Measurements of Gamma Radiation of the Lunar Surface on the Space Station LUNA-10|access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082839/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85249346.pdf |url-status=dead }} cosmic radiation, and micrometeoroid density. Perhaps its most important finding was the first evidence of mass concentrations (called "mascons") — areas of denser material below the lunar surface that distort lunar orbital trajectories.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVeY7vMCtOkC&dq=Luna+10+mascons&pg=PA107|title=Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration|first=Brian|last=Harvey|date=17 August 2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9780387739762|via=Google Books}}{{cite report|title=Determination of the Gravitational Field of the Moon by the Motion of the AMs LUNA-10|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002404/downloads/19670002404.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119082318/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19670002404/downloads/19670002404.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-19 |url-status=live|access-date=November 13, 2022}}