Luna 2 was a Soviet space probe, launched in September 1959, that became the first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon. It was one of a series of lunar probes of the Luna program, and followed Luna 1, which had missed its target a few months earlier. The probe struck the Moon near the Sea of Serenity after a flight of about two days, and carried metal pennants marked with the Soviet emblem. Its instruments found no measurable magnetic field around the Moon and confirmed that the solar wind flows through space. The achievement was a major success in the Space Race.
Before and after
- 28 May 1959Creation of COBOL
- 7 June 1959Birth of Mike Pence
- 17 July 1959Mary Leakey finds Zinjanthropus at Olduvai Gorge
- from 31 July 1959 to 20 October 2011Basque conflict
- 12 September 1959Launch of Luna 2
- 4 October 1959Launch of Luna 3
- 9 October 1959Birth of Boris Nemtsov
- 21 October 1959Construction of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- 23 October 1959Birth of "Weird Al" Yankovic
More in Universe & space
- 30 September 1975Discovery of Themisto
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 19 February 1986Launch of Mir
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.