Luna 2
Sign in to savefirst spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon
AI overview
Luna 2 was a Soviet spacecraft that became the first human-made object to reach the Moon's surface in 1959. This achievement was historically significant because it demonstrated that space travel to the Moon was possible and marked an important milestone in the early Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
Luna 2 (Russian: Луна 2), originally named the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket and nicknamed Lunik 2 in contemporaneous media, was the sixth of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon, E-1 No.7. It was the first spacecraft to touch the surface of the Moon, and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body.
The spacecraft was launched on 12 September 1959 by the Luna 8K72 s/n I1-7B rocket. It followed a direct path to the Moon. In addition to the radio transmitters sending telemetry information back to Earth, the spacecraft released a sodium vapour cloud so the spacecraft's movement could be visually observed. On 13 September 1959, it impacted the Moon's surface east of Mare Imbrium near the craters Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus.