Jodrell Bank Beats Moscow to Luna 9’s First Moon Image

In February 1966, Luna 9 landed in the Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum, unfurled four petals, and transmitted a slow-scan image that Jodrell Bank decoded and published before the Soviets could release their own pictures, showing a rocky, solid surface with limited dust. The mission lasted three days before its unrechargeable batteries died. Sixty years later, two teams claim to have spotted Luna 9 in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery, with Chandrayaan-2 expected to help confirm the site, underscoring the enduring intrigue of a long-lost Cold War relic on the Moon.