Luna 2 became the first spacecraft to impact the Moon on 14 September 1959.
The Soviet probe struck the lunar surface east of the Mare Imbrium roughly 33.5 hours after launch. It carried instruments that detected the solar wind and helped confirm that the Moon had no substantial global magnetic field. Luna 2 also carried small pennants bearing Soviet symbols, which reached the Moon when the probe impacted.
The mission was an important early success in lunar exploration because it demonstrated that a spacecraft could travel beyond Earth orbit and reach another world. It also intensified the technological competition between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity and pass near the Moon, but it missed the lunar surface. Luna 3 later returned the first images of the Moon’s far side.