USSR. Luna 16: Launched on September 12, 1970, by a Proton. It made a gentle moon landing at 2.5 m/s on September 20 (the Black September incident involving three planes taken hostage by Palestinian fedayeen distracted Western attention). The swivel arm plunged into the ground, drilling a 35 cm hole, scooping up lunar material, and depositing it in the probe. It then left the Sea of Fertility and returned to Earth, in Kazakhstan. The lunar soil was immediately taken to the Vernadsky Institute where it was analyzed by Valeri Barsukov. It was basalt. The results of the analysis were published, and 3 g of lunar material was exchanged for 3 g from the Apollo spacecraft.
