The San Andreas Space Exploration announced today that Lakbay-2, the second probe mission to the Mun, had successfully returned to Kerbin after a 2-day mission.
The said mission provided the test-bed for the future plans for manned lunar landings, which was re-continued after a short cancellation of this plan.
Lakbay-2 started its mission on October 27, 2012, 21:31 SAST with the launch of the Lawin-2 carrier rocket from Space Complex No. 1. It entered lunar orbit 6 hours later, and landed on October 28, 2012, 07:03 SAST.
While on lunar surface, it performed its objectives such as taking images of the lunar surface, and collecting lunar soil in order to identify its composition. Samples brought back from the Mun confirms the existence of kethane, an energy source abundant in the Mun. It returned negative on any samples of uranium, a material claimed by Larusia to be present on the Mun.
It took off from the lunar surface on October 29, 2012, 02:35 SAST, after another fly-by of the Mun, returned to Kerbin 2 days, 5 hours, and 59 minutes after the mission began.
Mission information:
Mission type: Probe, planetary science
Launch date: October 27, 2012, 21:31 SAST
Launch vehicle: Lawin-2
Launch site: Space Complex No. 1 LS-1
Lunar orbital insertion date: October 28, 2012, 03:31 SAST
Lunar landing date: October 28, 2012, 07:03 SAST
Lunar take-off date: October 29, 2012, 02:35 SAST
Kerbin landing date: October 30, 2012, 03:30 SAST
Mission duration: 2 days, 5 hours, and 59 minutes
Instruments: Photographic imaging system, robotic arm