The Soviet Union’s Luna program sent robotic probes to the Moon between 1959 and 1976. Of over 30 attempts, 15 were successful and achieved many firsts in space exploration, including the first man-made object to reach the Moon and the first soft landing on another planetary body. The program also collected lunar soil and returned valuable data via radio links to Earth.
The Luna program consisted of a series of robotic probes sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Of more than 30 attempts, fifteen were successful and achieved many significant firsts in space exploration. Some of the “failures” also achieved significant firsts, such as Luna 1, launched in 1959, which missed its intended impact with the Moon and became the first spacecraft to orbit the Sun.
Luna 2, launched in 1959, was the first man-made object to reach the moon, which it hit with a hard landing. Later that same year, Luna 3 rounded the Moon and returned the first images of the lunar far side. To the astonishment of scientists, the far side of the Moon was largely smooth, lacking the large dark seas (“mari”) characteristic of the side facing Earth.
In February 1966, Luna 9 became the first space probe to achieve a soft landing on another planetary body, returning the first close-up images of the lunar surface. This served as a major prequel to landing men on the moon during Project Apollo three years later. For a while, some scientists worried that the moon was covered in a thin layer of dust tens of meters deep, which would prove to be an obstacle to the arrival of astronauts. The landing of Luna 9 decisively dismissed this concern.
Later, in 1966, Luna 10 became the first artificial satellite of the Moon, orbiting them in orbit and taking pictures. Subsequently, Luna 17 (1970) and Luna 21 (1973) became the first probes to deploy mobile rovers to the surface of another planetary body, returning valuable data via radio links to Earth. Luna 16, Luna 20 and Luna 24 were the first spacecraft to collect lunar soil and bring it back to Earth. These missions returned only 0.326 kg of lunar samples, but the scientific importance was immense, as there was no previous way to conduct direct examinations and tests of lunar soil.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
