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Mission record

Zond 3

Also known as Zond3

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

Zond 3 was a Soviet spacecraft launched towards the Moon and interplanetary space that photographed the lunar farside during a flyby at a closest approach of 9200 km, returning 25 pictures of very good quality. After the lunar flyby it continued space exploration in a heliocentric orbit until the last communications were made in March 1966.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Flyby

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Zond 3 launched

    Earth

  2. Flyby

    Zond 3 flew by the Moon at a closest approach of 9200 km

    Moon

  3. Loss of contact

    Last communications with Zond 3 were made from 153.5 million km distance

    Earth

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Zond 3 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 24, 2026