Luna 1
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Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Template:Langx {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, lit.: Dream), E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover,Template:Sfn was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, the first spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, and the first to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as a Moon impactor, Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959.
A malfunction in the ground-based control system caused an error in the upper stage rocket's burn time, and the spacecraft missed the Moon by 5,900 km (more than three times the Moon's radius). Luna 1 became the first human-made object to reach heliocentric orbit and was dubbed "Artificial Planet 1"<ref name="nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and renamed Mechta (Dream).Template:Sfn Luna 1 was also referred to as the "First Cosmic Ship",<ref name="nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov"/> in reference to its achievement of Earth escape velocity.
SpacecraftEdit
The satellite and rocket carrying Luna 1 was originally referred to as the Soviet Space Rocket by the Soviet Press.Template:Sfn Pravda writer Alexander Kazantsev called it Mechta (Template:Langx, meaning 'dream').<ref name=alkaz>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Citizens of Moscow unofficially deemed it Lunik, a combination of Luna (Moon) and Sputnik.<ref name=alkaz/> It was renamed to Luna 1 in 1963.Template:Sfn
The spherical satellite was powered by mercury-oxide batteries and silver-zinc accumulators.<ref name=nssdc/> There were five antenna on one hemisphere, four whip-style and one rigid, for communication purposes. The spacecraft also contained radio equipment including a tracking transmitter and telemetry system.<ref name=nssdc/> There was no propulsion system.<ref name=nssdc/>
Luna 1 was designed to impact the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the Soviet coat of arms that were included into its payload package.<ref name=nssdc/> It also had six instruments to study the Moon upon its suicidal approach. The flux-gate magnetometer was triaxial and could measure ± 3000 gammas. It was designed to detect lunar magnetic fields.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn Two micrometeorite detectors, developed by Tatiana Nazarova of the Vernadsky Institute, were installed on the spacecraft. They each consisted of a metal plate with springs and could detect small impacts.Template:Sfn Four ion traps, used to measure solar wind and plasma, were included. They were developed by Konstantin Gringauz.Template:Sfn The scientific payload also included two gas-discharge Geiger counters, a sodium-iodide scintillation counter, and a Cherenkov detector. The upper stage of the rocket contained a scintillation counter and Template:Convert of sodium for a gas-dispersion experiment.<ref name=nssdc/>Template:Sfn
The spacecraft weighed Template:Convert at launch.Template:Sfn It was about Template:Convert in diameter.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LaunchEdit
Luna 1 was launched at 16:41 GMT (22:41 local time) on 2 January 1959 from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Luna 8K72 rocket.Template:Sfn The first three stages operated nominally. The Soviet engineers did not trust automated systems for controlling the engine burns, so they communicated to the rocket via radio. The signal to stop firing the engine Block E stage was delayed,Template:Sfn and the prolonged burn imparted an extra 175 m/s to Luna 1.Template:Sfn
Consequently Luna 1 missed its target by Template:Convert. The spacecraft passed within Template:Convert of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight, and then became the first human made object to leave Earth's orbit on January 6, 1959.<ref name=nssdc />Template:Sfn Luna 1 ran out of battery power on 5 January, when it was Template:Convert from Earth, making it impossible to track further.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The batteries were designed for a minimum of 40 hours but lasted for 62.Template:Sfn
Luna 1 became the first artificial object to reach the escape velocity of the Earth,Template:Sfn along with its carrier rocket's Template:Convert<ref name=nssdc/> upper stage, which it separated from after being the first spacecraft to reach heliocentric orbit.Template:Sfn It remains in orbit around the Sun, between the orbits of Earth and Mars.<ref name=nssdc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Experiment resultsEdit
At 00:57 GMT on 3 January 1959, at a distance of Template:Convert from Earth,Template:Sfn Template:Convert of sodium gas was released by the spacecraft, forming a cloud behind it to serve as an artificial comet. The cloud was released for two purposes: to allow visual tracking of the spacecraft's trajectory<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and to observe the behavior of gas in space.<ref name=nssdc/> This glowing orange trail of gas, visible over the Indian Ocean with the brightness of a sixth-magnitude star for a few minutes, was photographed by Mstislav Gnevyshev at the Mountain Station of the Main Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR near Kislovodsk.<ref name="BSE59"/>
While traveling through the outer Van Allen radiation belt, the spacecraft's scintillator made observations indicating that a small number of high-energy particles exist in the outer belt. The measurements obtained during this mission provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space. The craft was unable to detect a lunar magnetic field which placed an upper limit on its strength of 1/10,000th of Earth's.<ref name=nssdc/><ref name=Huntress235>Template:Cite book</ref> The first-ever direct observations and measurements of solar wind,Template:Sfn<ref name=nssdc/> a strong flow of ionized plasma emanating from the Sun and streaming through interplanetary space, were performed.<ref name=nssdc/> The ionized plasma concentration was measured to be some 700 particles per cm3 at altitudes of 20,000–25,000 km and 300 to 400 particles per cm3 at altitudes of 100,000–150,000 km.<ref name="BSE59">Template:Cite book</ref> The spacecraft also marked the first instance of radio communication at the half-million-kilometer distance.
ReactionEdit
Some doubted the veracity of the Soviets' claim of mission success. Lloyd Mallan wrote about it in a book called The Big Red Lie. Many in the West did not receive transmissions from the spacecraft even though the Soviets publicized them before the flight. By the time the Earth rotated so that scientists in the United States could pick up signals from the spacecraft, it was already Template:Convert away.Template:Sfn In May 1959 several hearings Soviet Space Technology before the Committee on Science and Astronautics and Special Subcommittee on Lunik Probe of the United States House of Representatives attested the achievements of the Soviet mission and its sophisticated guidance technology.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Soviet Union issued stamps to commemorate their success.Template:Sfn
Subsequent missionsEdit
Luna 2, the second spacecraft of the Ye-1A series, successfully completed the mission on 13 September 1959.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Pioneer 4 – a similar NASA mission launched 3 March 1959, two months after Luna 1.
- List of missions to the Moon
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
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- Boris Chertok, "Rakety i liudi: goriachie dni, kholodnoy voyny", Moscow, "Mashinostroenie", 2nd edition (1999). Sect. 2–7.
- Zarya – Luna 1 chronology
External linksEdit
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