Luna 2 was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon’s surface, impacting it on 14 September 1959.
The Soviet spacecraft was launched on 12 September 1959 and traveled directly toward the Moon. It carried instruments that detected the solar wind and a set of small pennants released during the approach, marking the achievement for the Soviet Union.
Luna 2’s impact demonstrated that a human-made object could reach another celestial body. It also found no significant lunar magnetic field and provided evidence that the Moon did not possess a substantial radiation belt.
Luna 1, launched earlier in 1959, became the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity and enter heliocentric orbit after missing the Moon. Surveyor 1 later achieved the first successful US soft landing on the Moon.