Processed images from the Luna 3 mission

Here are processed images from the Luna 3 mission. These are the first images from the Moon's far side and are of extreme historical importance. They might look crude, but we must remember that they were from 1959!

The original images (and extensive information) can be found here: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/mission_page/EM_Luna_3_page1.html, www.mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogMoon.htm and www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/luna3/Luna3story.html. This images suffer from severe degradation because of the analog transmission system used. On Earth, images were displayed on a Slow Scan TV monitor that was photographed,further degrading the images.

Processing consisted on removal of vertical and horizontal image stripes and noise reduction.

Luna 3 best frames mosaic

 

Luna 3 Processed Frames

Frame 26 - 500mm objective
Frame 28 - 500mm objective
Frame 29 - 200mm objective
Frame 31- 200mm objective
Frame 32 - 500mm objective
Frame 35 - 200mm objective

 

Camera system data:

Scanning: 1000 lines
Frames: 40 possible total frames, 29 obtained , 12 to 17 transmited
Reading time: ~800 sec / image
Objective: 200 mm, f/5.6 and 500 mm, f/9.5

Yenisey-2 camera system:

a) Film
35mm isochrome

b) Transmission
FM analog

c) CRT

Slow Scan Display?

d) Film
???