00:00 On this day in space.
00:03 In 1970, the Soviet Union's Luna 16 moon probe landed on the moon to retrieve a soil sample.
00:09 Four days later, it became the first robotic spacecraft to return a sample of lunar soil to Earth.
00:14 Luna 16 made a soft landing on the lunar surface in a mare known as the Sia Fertility, where it retrieved 101 grams of lunar soil.
00:21 It was the first robotic spacecraft to succeed in landing on the moon, scooping up a soil sample and returning it to Earth.
00:27 Before Luna 16, the Soviet space program had tried and failed five times to return a sample from the moon.
00:33 Overall, this was the third lunar sample brought to Earth.
00:36 NASA's Apollo 11 and 12 missions had also brought some rocks and soil back from the moon.
00:41 Back on Earth, tiny portions of moon dust retrieved from Luna 16 were eventually auctioned off for almost half a million dollars.
00:48 And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:51 [music playing]
00:54 you
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