Luna 2

Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center

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.