Editing Luna 2 (section)

{{short description|1959 Soviet unmanned space mission to impact the surface of the Moon}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Luna 2
| names_list            = Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket<br/>Lunik 2
| image                 = File:Luna 1 - 2 Spacecraft.png
| image_caption         = Model of ''Luna&nbsp;2''
| image_upright         = .7
| mission_type          = Lunar impactor
| operator              = Soviet space program
| Harvard_designation   = 1959 ξ 1<ref name="gunter">{{cite web|url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/luna_e1a.htm|title=Luna Ye-1A|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=10 July 2019|last1=Krebs |first1=Gunter}}</ref>
| COSPAR_ID             = 1959-014A<ref name="launch">{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1959-014A|title=Luna 2 Launch and Trajectory Information |publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>
| SATCAT                = 00114<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=114|title=Luna 2|publisher=N2YO.com|access-date=10 July 2019}}</ref>
| mission_duration      = 2 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes, 41 seconds<ref name=Siddiqi2018 />{{efn|name="time"|There are widely-varying times given in sources for the launch, impact  (e.g. 14th of September according to Moscow's time zone) and its mission duration.}}
| spacecraft_type       = 
| manufacturer          = [[OKB-1]]<ref name="gunter"/>
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = 390.2 kg<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-014A |title=Luna 2|publisher=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive]] |access-date=January 10, 2023}}</ref>
| power                 =

| launch_date           = 12 September 1959<br/>06:39:42 GMT<ref name="Siddiqi2018">{{Cite book|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif A.|year=2018|publisher=NASA}}</ref>{{efn|name="time"}}
| launch_rocket         = [[Luna (rocket)|Luna 8K72 s/n I1-7B]]{{sfn|Lardier|Barensky|2013|p=406}}
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1|Site 1/5]]<ref name=nssse>{{cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-02/in-depth/|title=Luna 02|publisher=NASA Science Solar System Exploration|access-date=8 July 2019|quote=Luna 2 (as it was renamed in 1963)...|archive-date=26 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426112913/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-02/in-depth/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| launch_contractor     = [[OKB-1]]

| orbit_epoch           = 12 September 1959
| orbit_periapsis       = 
| orbit_apoapsis        = 
| orbit_inclination     = 
| apsis                 = gee

| programme             = '''[[Luna programme]]'''
| previous_mission      = ''[[Luna E-1A No.1|Luna 1959A]]''
| next_mission          = [[Luna 3]]

|interplanetary         = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = impactor
   |object              = [[Moon|Lunar]]
   |arrival_date        = 13 September 1959<br/>21:02:24 GMT<ref name="Siddiqi2018" />{{efn|name="time"}}
   |location            = {{Lunar coords and quad cat|29.1|N|0|W}}

}}
}}
'''''Luna 2''''' ({{langx|ru|Луна 2|}}), originally named the '''Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket''' and nicknamed '''Lunik 2''' in contemporaneous media, was the sixth of the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Luna programme]] spacecraft launched to the [[Moon]], '''E-1 No.7'''. It was the first spacecraft [[Moon landing|to touch the surface of the Moon]], and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body.

The spacecraft was launched on 12 September 1959 by the [[Luna (rocket)|Luna 8K72 s/n I1-7B]] rocket. It followed a [[direct ascent|direct path]] to the Moon. In addition to the radio transmitters sending [[telemetry]] information back to Earth, the spacecraft released a [[sodium]] vapour cloud so the spacecraft's movement could be visually observed. On 13 September 1959, it impacted the Moon's surface east of [[Mare Imbrium]] near the craters Aristides, [[Archimedes (crater)|Archimedes]], and [[Autolycus (crater)|Autolycus]].

Prior to impact, two sphere-shaped pennants with USSR and the launch date engraved in Cyrillic were detonated, sending pentagonal shields in all directions. ''Luna 2'' did not detect radiation or magnetic belts around the Moon.