I've read somewhere that the Russians have moon rocks. How did they get them?
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asked Jul 3, 2018 at 12:08
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9$\begingroup$ The Soviet Union were the first to do many things space related: put an object into space, put a creature into space, put a man into space, land a vehicle on the moon, land a robot on the moon, return things from the moon, etc., etc., ... $\endgroup$– OctopusJul 4, 2018 at 16:44
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3$\begingroup$ Luna-15 tried to be first with lunar rocks but failed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_15 $\endgroup$– HeoppsJul 4, 2018 at 17:58
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1$\begingroup$ @DaveBoltman: through the Apollo program. $\endgroup$– HobbesJul 5, 2018 at 11:06
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3$\begingroup$ The main reason this is question is being asked is probably because the Soviet Union never landed a human being on the moon. Before reading the accepted answer, I would have guessed that they simply acquired all of their moon rocks through the US. $\endgroup$– PanzercrisisJul 5, 2018 at 14:39
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5$\begingroup$ @Octopus Luna 16 flew September 1970, so Apollo 11 beat them in "returning things from the moon". $\endgroup$– user71659Jul 6, 2018 at 5:19
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1 Answer
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The USSR flew three successful automated lunar sample return missions: Luna 16, Luna 20 and Luna 24. The probes landed on the Moon, collected samples, and started a small rocket with the samples back to Earth. The returned mass was very small (101 g, 30 g and 170 g, respectively).
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40$\begingroup$ To complement - USSR also obtained samples of Apollo rocks in exchange for Luna stations samples. Source - livejournal post (in Russian language with massive inserted citations in English) : vakhnenko.livejournal.com/241952.html $\endgroup$– HeoppsJul 3, 2018 at 12:45
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1$\begingroup$ As detailed in the Wikipedia articles @DarkDust cites, the Luna 16, 20, and 24 missions were flown in the early- to mid-1970's. Worth a look! $\endgroup$ Jul 3, 2018 at 17:08
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2$\begingroup$ Thanks everyone that clears things up. I should have searched for
lunar rocks$\endgroup$ Jul 3, 2018 at 17:17 -
2$\begingroup$ In addition, Nixon sent some of the Apollo moon rocks to the USSR. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_sample_displays ). $\endgroup$ Jul 4, 2018 at 15:06
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$\begingroup$ I've just asked How did the Luna spacecraft collect samples of the moon and containerize them for return to Earth? $\endgroup$– uhohMar 8, 2019 at 3:35