Zond-5
The first lunar flyby with return to Earth
معروض
Zond-5 was the uncrewed version of the 7K-L1 lunar ship being developed for a crewed flyby. Two Central Asian tortoises, fruit flies, seeds and bacteria flew aboard: the biological package was to show whether living tissue would survive radiation beyond the magnetosphere.
The craft was the first to return to Earth at escape velocity and splashed down in the Indian Ocean. The tortoises survived, losing about ten per cent of their mass. Three months later Apollo 8 made the crewed flyby and the Soviet programme was wound down.
On display is a 7K-L1 series descent module with the biological container.
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