Luna 10 became the first artificial satellite of any celestial body other than Earth and the Sun in March 1966. The spacecraft launched on the 31st of March 1966 at 10:48 GMT toward its lunar destination.
The spacecraft carried a gamma-ray spectrometer capable of detecting energies between 0.3, 3 MeV along with a triaxial magnetometer that measured magnetic fields. Devices also tracked infrared emissions coming directly from the lunar surface itself while a meteorite detector counted impacts from tiny particles floating through space around the Moon.
Scientists discovered evidence of mass concentrations below the lunar surface during operations in April 1966. These dense areas distorted orbital trajectories for any object attempting to circle the Moon and provided the first proof that hidden density variations existed within the Moon's interior structure.
The instrument compartment weighed 245 kilograms that separated from the main bus before the entire dry mass of Luna 10 reached 540 kilograms. Each piece of equipment gathered data about radiation belts surrounding the Moon and the nature of rocks found there.
Controllers programmed solid-state oscillators to play notes from The Internationale during a live broadcast attempt intended to transmit the anthem directly to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. A rehearsal took place on the night of the 3rd of April with successful results initially.