Luna 2
Launch
Date: 1959-09-12
Launch Site/Country: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R.
Launch Vehicle: Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation
(Longer) Upper Stage
On-orbit dry mass: 390.20 kg. (854.4 lb.)
Description
Luna 2 was the second of a series of spacecraft
launched in the direction of the Moon. The instrument package reached
the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. The first spacecraft
to land on the Moon, it impacted the lunar surface east of Mare
Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters.
Some 30 minutes after Luna 2, the last stage of its rocket also
impacted the Moon.
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