How Soviet Probe Luna 2 Made History as First Human Object to Hit Moon in 1959

On September 14, 1959, the Soviet Union's Luna 2 spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface, marking the first time a human-made object from Earth reached another celestial body. Launched on September 12 during the Cold War space race, the mission followed several earlier setbacks, including at least three rocket failures in 1958 and Luna 1 missing the moon by about 6,500 kilometres in January 1959. Because the Soviet Union lacked tracking stations abroad to prove the craft had hit its target, engineers sent a coded message to England's Jodrell Bank Observatory, which possessed world-class directional antennas. Sir Bernard Lovell, the observatory's director, received the telex details from Moscow and sprang his team into action to track the probe.

Flight Details And Impact

Travelling at escape velocity, Luna 2 released a kilogram of sodium gas at a distance of about 156,000 kilometres to create a visible cloud that Soviet astronomers photographed. The spacecraft lacked a propulsion system and the technology for a soft landing, so it was guided by the third stage of its SS-6 booster rocket before separating shortly before impact. Approximately 35 hours after launch, Luna 2 crashed between Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis at 00:02:24 Moscow time on September 14. Its booster rocket also hit the moon half an hour later. Scientific instruments on board detected no magnetic fields or radiation belts around the moon, and the probe deposited metallic spheres engraved with the Soviet coat of arms and the date 1959 September.

Global Reaction

News of the successful impact sparked an international press uproar and made front pages worldwide. Moscow radio interrupted a classical music programme to broadcast the TASS press agency bulletin three times, followed by a scientific worker discussing measures to prevent Earth microorganisms from contaminating the moon. In New York, the timing caught reporters scrambling for their Sunday evening deadlines, and The New York Times noted that impact was only 84 seconds off Soviet predictions. In India, The Hindu ran a front-page headline reading RUSSIAN ROCKET LANDS ON MOON on September 15. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru praised the feat as great news, quipping that the poor moon was now being pursued by humanity.