Editing Luna 2 (section)

=== Lunar impact ===
[[File:Moon map Luna 17 Luna 2 Apollo 15 Surveyor 6 Surveyor 4 Luna 7 Luna 8 Luna 11.png|thumbnail|right|''Luna 2'' site is near the right of the image, relatively close to the [[Apollo 15]] landing site.]]

''Luna 2'' took a [[direct ascent|direct path]] to the Moon,{{Sfn|Reeves|2013|p=39}} starting with an initial velocity from Earth of {{convert|11.2|km/s|mph}}{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=31}} and impacting the Moon at about {{convert|3.3|km/s|mph}}.{{sfn|Corda|2017|p=47}} It hit the Moon about 0° west and 29.1° north of the centre of the visible disk at 00:02:24 (Moscow Time) on 14 September 1959.{{sfn|Moore|Rees|2014|p=40}}{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=33}}{{efn|name="time"}} The probe became the first human-made object to hit another celestial body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/missions-to-the-moon.html#luna2|title=Missions to the Moon|publisher=The Planetary Society|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref> To provide a display visible from Earth, on 13 September the spacecraft released a vapour cloud that expanded to a diameter of {{convert|650|km|mi}} that was seen by observatories in [[Alma Ata]] in Kazakhstan, [[Byurakan]] in Armenia, [[Abastumani]] and [[Tbilisi]] in Georgia, and [[Stalinabad]] in Tajikistan.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=31}} This cloud also acted as an experiment to see how the sodium gas would act in a vacuum and zero gravity.<ref name="nasa1"/> The last stage of the rocket that propelled ''Luna 2'' also hit the Moon's surface about 30 minutes after the spacecraft, but there was uncertainty about where it landed.<ref name="nasa1"/>

Bernard Lovell began tracking the probe about five hours before it struck the Moon and also recorded the transmission from the probe, which ended abruptly. He played the recording during a phone call to reporters in New York to finally convince most media observers of the mission's authenticity.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=33}}