Zond 5 launched
SEP 15, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031050
On this day in 1968 the Soviet Union launched its Zond 5 spacecraft. Three days later Zond 5’s upper stage flew once around the Moon and then set off on a return journey to Earth. When the reentry capsule splashed down in the Indian Ocean on 22 September, it became the first object to make a successful and complete return trip to the Moon.
Date in History: 15 September 1968
© 2015 American Institute of Physics
