Zond 3 was a 1965 space probe which performed a flyby of the Moon's far side,[4] taking 28 quality photographs.

Zond 3 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 18, 1965, at 14:38 UTC, and was deployed from a Tyazhely Sputnik (65-056B) Earth-orbiting platform towards the Moon and interplanetary space.

[6] Zond 3's lunar flyby occurred on July 20 with a closest approach of 9,219 km (5,728 mi),[2] approximately 35 hours after launch.

25 visible light photographs and 3 ultraviolet spectra of very good quality were taken of the lunar surface, beginning at 01:24 UTC and 11,570 km (7,190 mi) prior to closest approach and ending at 02:32 UTC and 9,960 km (6,190 mi) past closest approach, covering a period of 68 minutes.

[8] Zond 3 proceeded on a trajectory across Mars' orbit, but not at a time when planetary encounter would occur.