First Successful Spacecraft Is Launched Toward the Moon
The Luna 2 mission, launched by the Soviet Union on September 12, 1959, marked a significant milestone in space exploration as it became the first successful spacecraft to land on the Moon. This unmanned spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using a modified SS-6 rocket and, after approximately 33.5 hours in flight, it crashed into the lunar surface. The mission aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of landing on the Moon, which was a groundbreaking achievement at a time when space travel was still in its early stages.
Prior to Luna 2, the Soviet space program experienced several setbacks, with multiple failed attempts, including four unsuccessful launches, while Luna 1 managed only a fly-by of the Moon. The success of Luna 2 not only confirmed the potential for lunar landings but also provided important scientific data, revealing that the Moon lacks a significant magnetic field and does not have radiation belts similar to those surrounding Earth. This mission set the stage for subsequent lunar exploration and reflected the intense competition of the space race during the Cold War era.
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First Successful Spacecraft Is Launched Toward the Moon
First Successful Spacecraft Is Launched Toward the Moon
On September 13, 1959, Moscow time, the Soviet Luna 2 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility aboard a modified SS-6 rocket. Approximately 33.5 hours later all radio communication with the unmanned spacecraft ended, indicating that it had crashed onto the surface of the Moon as planned. Luna 2 thereby became the first spacecraft to land on the surface of the Moon. Although the hard-impact landing naturally destroyed the spacecraft, Luna 2 did prove that it was possible to land a spacecraft on the Moon in a day and age when these vehicles were still in their infancy.
The Soviets had launched the first orbital satellite in 1957, namely Sputnik 1, and later embarked on a series of spacecraft launches aimed at either achieving a fly-by of the Moon or a hard landing on its surface. Four of them—Luna 1958A, Luna 1958B, Luna 1958C, and Luna 1959A—were failures on the launch pad. One, Luna 1, managed to accomplish a fly-by in January of 1959. The sixth launch, Luna 2, became the first successful landing. Luna 2 also carried scientific equipment aboard it which indicated that the Moon had no significant magnetic field like Earth's, nor anything resembling the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding the Earth.