In this view we are looking at the end of the vehicle which houses the lander. At the opposite end is the conical housing of the retro-rocket - fired just before landing. There is a better view of it in photograph on the Luna 10 page. Two of the four low-thrust, course correction engines can be seen around the body of the vehicle. Several boxes of equipment are attached to the main spacecraft. These contain the guidance system, chemical batteries and navigation systems. To minimise fuel use, they were designed to be cast-off just before retro-rocket firing.

Here, a technician works on a spacecraft of the Luna 9 design. The ball-shaped object covered in insulating material is the lander. Before impact, the insulating layer was inflated like a balloon to provide a relatively-soft impact. Having a human being in the picture gives an indication of the actual size of the spacecraft.

The main body of the spacecraft bus had a rod extending downwards from the retro rocket section. On contacting the lunar surface, it activated an ejection mechanism to push the lander upwards and away from the spacecraft so it would fall separately to the Moon's surface for a (relatively) low speed impact, softened even more by the inflated 'balloon'. An offset centre of gravity allowed it to roll 'right way up so that the petals could open.

After touching down, four petals opened out and pushed the craft upright. Rod-type antennae sent data to Earth, using the inner surfaces of the petals as reflectors. A weighted cable hung from each rod to indicate the vertical in photographs. They are missing from the model in the photograph below. It was on show at the 1968 Soviet Exhibition in London.

In the top centre, is a cylinder which houses an angled mirror, in the manner of a periscope to reflect a view of the Moon's surface downwards into a photographic sensor to produce a panoramic view.

Luna 9 had some small panels of solar cells but its main power source was batteries, recharged slowly by the small current available from the solar cells.