Editing Luna 2

{{short description|1959 Soviet unmanned space mission to impact the surface of the Moon}}
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{{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.

== Background ==
''[[Luna 1]]'' and the three spacecraft of [[Luna programme]] before it were part of the Ye-1 series of spacecraft with a mass of {{convert|156|kg|lb}}.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|pp=22, 30}} Luna missions that failed to successfully launch or achieve good results remained unnamed and were not publicly acknowledged.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=24}}{{sfn|Lund|2018|p=333}} The first unnamed probe exploded on launch on 23 September 1958. Two more launches were unsuccessfully attempted on 11 October 1958 and 4 December 1958.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|pp=22–24}} ''Luna 1'' was the fourth launch attempt and the first partial success of the program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/luna1.html|title=Luna-1: USSR launches the first artificial planet|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=2 January 2019|publisher=Russian Space Web|access-date=16 March 2019}}</ref> It launched on 2 January 1959 and missed the Moon by {{convert|5965|km|mi}}.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|pp=25, 27}}

One mission separated ''Luna 1'' and ''Luna 2'', a launch failure that occurred with an [[Luna E-1A No.1|unnamed probe]] on 18 June 1959.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|pp=30–31}} ''Luna 2'' would be the Soviet Union's sixth attempt to impact the Moon.<ref name="moonmissions">{{cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/spacecraft_planetary_lunar.html|title=Moon Missions|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=16 October 2013 |publisher=Russian Space Web|orig-year=Updated 16 September 2018|access-date=16 March 2019}}</ref> It was the second of the Ye-1a series, modified to carry a heavier payload of {{convert|156|kg|lb}}{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=30}} and had a combined mass of {{convert|390.2|kg|lb}}.{{sfn|Moore|Rees|2014|p=40}} ''Luna 2'' was similar in design to ''Luna 1'',<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Christy |first=Robert |title=The Mission of Luna 2 |url=http://orbitalfocus.uk/Diaries/Luna/Luna02.php |access-date=17 March 2019 |website=Zarya.info}}</ref> a spherical [[space probe]] with protruding antennas and [[instrumentation]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/far-side-moon-china/579349/|title=Why the Far Side of the Moon Matters So Much|last=Koren |first=Marina|date=3 January 2019|work=The Atlantic|access-date=16 March 2019}}</ref> The instrumentation was also similar to ''Luna 1'',<ref name=":0"/> which included a [[Spacecraft magnetometer#Fluxgate magnetometer|triaxial fluxgate magnetometer]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1959-014A-01|title=NSSDCA – Experiment – Details: 1959-014A-01|editor-last=Williams|editor-first=David R.|publisher=NASA Space and Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=8 July 2019}}</ref> a [[Piezoelectric sensor|piezoelectric detector]], a [[scintillation counter]], [[ion trap]]s and two gas-discharge counters, while the ''Luna 2'' included six gas-discharge counters.{{Sfn|Siddiqi|2002|pp=21, 23}} There were no propulsion systems on ''Luna 2'' itself.<ref name="nasa1">{{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=12 March 2019}}</ref>

== Payload ==
[[File:Block-E rocket stage.png|thumb|upright|Upper stage of [[Luna (rocket)|Luna rocket]]]]

''Luna 2'' carried five different types of instruments to conduct various tests while it was on its way to the [[Moon]].{{Sfn|Siddiqi|2002|p=23}} The scintillation counters were used to measure any ionizing radiation and the Cherenkov radiation detectors to measure electromagnetic radiation caused by charged particles.{{sfn|Huntress|Marov|2011|p=73}} The primary scientific purpose of the Geiger Counter carried on ''Luna 2'' was to determine the electron spectrum of the [[Van Allen radiation belt]]. It consisted of three STS-5 gas-discharge counters mounted on the outside of an airtight container.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1959-014A-02|title=Geiger Counter|publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref> The last instrument on ''Luna 2'' was a three component fluxgate magnetometer. It was similar to that used on ''Luna 1'' but its dynamic range was reduced by a factor of 4 to ±750 [[Tesla (unit)#Conversion to non-SI units|gamma]]s (nT) so that the quantisation uncertainty was ±12 gammas.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1959-014A-01|title=Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer|publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref> The probe's instrumentation was powered by silver-zinc and mercury-oxide batteries.{{sfn|Huntress|Marov|2011|p=73}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mentallandscape.com/L_Luna2.htm|title=Lunar Impact capsule|last1=Mitchell|first1=Don P.|publisher=Mental Landscape LLC|access-date=20 March 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Kansas Cosmosphere Luna 2 Pennant 2013.JPG|thumb|A copy of the Soviet pennant sent on the ''Luna 2'' probe to the Moon, at the Kansas [[Cosmosphere]].]]

The spacecraft also carried Soviet [[Pennant (commissioning)|pennants]] which were located on the probe and on the ''Luna 2'' rocket.{{sfn|Capelotti|2014|p=44}} The two sphere-shaped pennants in the probe had surfaces covered by 72 [[pentagon]]al elements in a pattern similar to that later used by [[Ball (association football)|association footballs]].{{sfn|Cavallaro|2018|p=48}}{{sfn|Waldstein|Turoma|2016|p=262}} In the centre was an explosive charge designed to shatter the sphere, sending the pentagonal shields in all directions.{{sfn|Waldstein|Turoma|2016|p=262}} Each pentagonal element was made of [[titanium alloy]]; the centre [[Regular polygon|regular]] pentagon had the [[State Emblem of the Soviet Union]] with the [[Cyrillic]] letters ''СССР'' ("USSR") engraved below and was surrounded by five non-regular pentagons which were each engraved with ''СССР СЕНТЯБРЬ 1959'' ("USSR SEPTEMBER 1959").{{sfn|Cavallaro|2018|p=48}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ria.ru/20090914/184898023.html|title=СССР полвека назад впервые в истории осуществил успешный полет на Луну|last1=Kovalev|first1=Alexander|date=14 September 2009|work=RIA Novosti|language=ru|trans-title=Half a century ago, for the first time in history, the USSR carried out a successful flight to the moon|access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref> The third pennant was similar engravings on aluminium strips which were embossed on the last stage of the ''Luna 2'' rocket.{{sfn|Capelotti|2014|p=44}}

The scientists took extra, unspecified precautions in preventing biological contamination of the Moon.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0914.html#article|title=Soviet Rocket Hits Moon After 35 Hours; Arrival Is Calculated Within 84 Seconds; Signals Received Till Moment of Impact|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 September 1959|last1=Frankel|first1=Max|author-link=Max Frankel|page=1}}</ref>

== Mission ==
=== Launch and trajectory ===
There was difficulty getting Luna 2 ready for launch. The first attempt on September 6 failed due to a loose electrical connection. A second attempt two days later also went awry when the core stage LOX tank failed to pressurize properly due to ice formation in a pressure sensing line. The ice plug was broken but the launch had to be called off again. By this point the RP-1 had been sitting in the propellant tanks for almost four days and there was the risk that it could start to paraffin-ize. The next attempt was made on September 9. Core and strap-on ignition began but the engines only reached 75% thrust. The launch was aborted and the RP-1 finally drained from the tanks. The DP-2 electrical switch had failed to send the command to open the engine valves to full throttle.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=31}}The booster was removed from the pad and replaced with a different one, which was launched 12 September 1959, and ''Luna 2'' lifted off at 06:39:42 GMT.<ref name="nssse"/>{{efn|name="time"}}

Later in the month, Soviet premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] was visiting the United States. The US space program had had several recent setbacks including an on-pad explosion of an Atlas-Able rocket and a [[Jupiter missile]] that exploded just after launch and killed several mice it was intended to fly on a biological mission. US President [[Dwight Eisenhower]], while meeting with Khrushchev, remarked that there had been a few failures of American rockets lately and asked if there had been similar problems in the Soviet space programme. Alluding to the abortive Luna 2 attempt two weeks earlier, Khrushchev replied that "We had a rocket we were going to launch, but it did not work correctly so they had to take it down and replace it with a different one."{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Once the vehicle reached Earth's [[escape velocity]], the upper stage was detached, allowing the probe to travel on its path to the Moon. ''Luna 2'' pirouetted slowly, making a full rotation every 14 minutes, while sending radio signals at 183.6, 19.993 and 39.986 [[megahertz|MHz]].{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=31}} The probe started transmitting information back to Earth using three different transmitters. These transmitters provided precise information on its course, allowing scientists to calculate that ''Luna 2'' would hit its mark on the Moon around 00:05 on 14 September ([[Moscow Time]]), which was announced on [[Radio Moscow]].{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=31}}

Because of claims{{whose|date=July 2024}} that information received from ''Luna 1'' was fake, the Russian scientists sent a [[telex]] to astronomer [[Bernard Lovell]] at [[Jodrell Bank Observatory]] at the [[University of Manchester]]. Having received the intended time of impact, and the transmission and trajectory details, it was Bernard Lovell who confirmed the mission's success to outside observers. However, the American media were still skeptical of the data until Lovell was able to prove that the radio signal was coming from ''Luna 2'' by showing the [[Doppler Shift|Doppler shift]] from its transmissions.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|pp=32–33}}{{sfn|Lovell|1959|p=54}}

=== 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}}

== Results ==
The radiation detectors and magnetometer were searching for lunar magnetic and radiation fields similar to the [[Van Allen radiation belt]] around Earth, sending information about once every minute<ref name="ReferenceA"/> until its last transmission which came about {{convert|55|km}} away from the lunar surface.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=32}} Although it did prove previous measurements of the Van Allen radiation belts that were taken from ''Luna 1'' around the Earth,{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=32}} it was not able to detect any type of radiation belts around the Moon{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=34}} at or beyond the limits of its magnetometer's sensitivity (2–3x10<sup>−4</sup> [[Gauss (unit)|G]]).<ref name=SP99>{{cite book|date=1966|title=Significant Achievements in Planetology 1958–1964|location=Washington D.C. |publisher=NASA|oclc=30740240 |page=43}}</ref>

''Luna 2'' showed time variations in the [[electric flux|electron flux]] and [[energy spectrum]] in the Van Allen radiation belt.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2010|p=128}} Using [[ion trap]]s on board, the satellite made the first direct measurement of [[solar wind]] flux from outside the Earth's [[magnetosphere]].{{sfn|Ogurtsov|Jalkanen|Lindholm|Veretenenko|2015|p=35}} On its approach to the lunar surface, the probe did not detect any notable [[magnetic field]] to within {{convert|55|km|mi}} from the Moon.{{Sfn|Siddiqi|2002|p=23}}{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=32}} It also did not detect a radiation belt around the Moon, but the four ion traps measured an increase in the ion particle flux at an altitude of {{convert|8000|km|mi}}, which suggested the presence of an ionosphere. The probe generated scientific data that was printed on {{convert|14|km|mi}} of [[Teleprinter|teletype]], which were analysed and published in the spring of 1960.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=34}}

== Cultural significance ==
According to Donald William Cox, [[Americans]] were starting to believe that they were making progress in the [[Space Race]] and that although the Soviet Union might have had larger rockets, the United States had better guidance systems, but these beliefs were questioned when the Soviets were able to impact ''Luna 2'' on the Moon.{{sfn|Cox|1962|pp=47, 118}}<ref name=HistoryToday/> At that time the closest Americans had come to the Moon was about {{convert|60000|km|mi}} with [[Pioneer 4]].<ref name=HistoryToday>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/soviet-union-first-moon|title=The Soviet Union is first to the Moon|year=2009|magazine=History Today|volume=59|issue=9|last1=Cavendish|first1=Richard}}</ref> Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]], on [[1959 Khrushchev visit to the United States|his only visit to the United States]], gave President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] a replica of the Soviet pennants that ''Luna 2'' had just placed onto the lunar surface.<ref name=HistoryToday />{{sfn|Daniloff|1972|p=105}}
==U.S. espionage==
In 1959, a Soviet exhibit of its economic achievements toured several countries. This exhibit included displays of Luna 2. [[CIA]] conducted a covert operation to access it to gain information. A team of CIA officers gained unrestricted access to the display for 24 hours, which turned out to be a fully-operational system comparable to the original and not a replica as expected. The team disassembled the object, photographed the parts without removing it from its crate and then put back in place, gaining intelligence regarding its design and capabilities. The Soviets did not find out, the CIA report being declassified in 2019, 24 years after the dissolution of the USSR.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wesley Finer |first1=Sydney |title=THE KIDNAPING OF THE LUNIK |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/THE%20KIDNAPING%20OF%20THE%20LUNI%5B15732838%5D.pdf |publisher=CIA |access-date=9 August 2024 |date=1967}}{{source-attribution}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
''Luna 2'' was a success for the Soviets, and was the first in a series of missions (lunar impactors) that were intentionally crashed on the Moon. The later U.S.-made [[Ranger program|Ranger]] missions ended in similar impacts. Such controlled crashes have remained useful even after the technique of [[Soft landing (aeronautics)|soft landing]] was mastered.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/28jul_crashlanding/|title=Crash Landing on the Moon|last1=Phillips|first1=Tony|date=28 July 2006|publisher=Science@NASA|access-date=20 April 2016|archive-date=16 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416120608/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/28jul_crashlanding/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[NASA]] used hard spacecraft impacts to test whether shadowed Moon craters contain ice by analyzing the debris that was created on impact.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2010/10-89AR.html |last1=Hoover|first1=Rachel|last2=Jones|first2=Nancy Neal|last3=Braukus|first3=Michael|title=NASA Missions Uncover the Moon's Buried Treasures|date=21 October 2010|publisher=NASA}}</ref>

The pennant presented to Eisenhower is kept at the [[Eisenhower Presidential Center|Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum]] in [[Abilene, Kansas]], U.S.<ref name="rbth">{{cite news |url=https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/326131-soviet-space-luna|title=58 years ago: the Soviet space probe, Luna 2, was launched|last1=Ivanov|first1=Stepan|newspaper=Russia Beyond|date=12 September 2017 |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref> A copy of the spherical pennant is located at the [[Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center|Kansas Cosmosphere]] in [[Hutchinson, Kansas]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.universetoday.com/109026/a-history-of-curious-artifacts-sent-into-space/|title=A History of Curious Artifacts Sent Into Space|last1=Dickinson|first1=David|work=Universe Today|date=6 February 2014|access-date=16 March 2019}}</ref>

On 1 November 1959, the Soviet Union released two stamps commemorating the spacecraft. They depict the trajectory of the mission.{{sfn|Cavallaro|2018|p=49}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Solar System|Spaceflight}}
* [[Soviet space program]]
* [[Sinus Lunicus]]
* [[List of artificial objects on the Moon]]
* [[List of missions to the Moon]]

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
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* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlEGDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|title=The Sun-Climate Connection Over the Last Millennium Facts and Questions|last1=Ogurtsov|first1=Maxim|last2=Jalkanen|first2=Risto |last3=Lindholm|first3=Markus|last4=Veretenenko|first4=Svetlana|year=2015|publisher=Bentham Science Publishers|isbn=978-1-60805-980-5|language=en}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXcECAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|title=The Superpower Space Race: An Explosive Rivalry through the Solar System|last=Reeves|first=Robert|date=2013|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4899-5986-7|pages=39|language=en}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph24.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|title=Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958–2000|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif A. |year=2002|publisher=NASA|series=Monographs in Aerospace History|pages=21|chapter=1959|id=SP-2002-4524|chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph24/1959.pdf}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVcfDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA262|title=Empire De/Centered: New Spatial Histories of Russia and the Soviet Union|last1=Waldstein|first1=Maxim|last2=Turoma|first2=Sanna |location=London|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-14437-3|language=en}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}

{{Luna programme}}
{{Orbital launches in 1959}}
{{Moon spacecraft}}

[[Category:Luna programme]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1959]]
[[Category:1959 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Spacecraft that impacted the Moon]]
[[Category:Impactor spacecraft]]
[[Category:1959 on the Moon]]
[[Category:Successful space missions]]