Luna 1, 2 & 3 - 50 years hence |
Luna 1, 2 & 3 - 50 years hence |
Dec 8 2008, 09:24 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 149 Joined: 18-June 08 Member No.: 4216 |
Hi All,
I am not sure whether this is of interest to the community, but next year will see three rather significant 50th anniversaries in unmanned lunar and interplanetary spaceflight, those of Luna-1, the first probe to escape the gravitational field of the Earth (lunar impact intended), Luna-2, the first probe to actually hit the Moon and Luna 3, the first probe to image the Moon's far side. Luna-1 was launched on 2nd January 1959 and flew by the Moon on the 4th of the same month at a distance of 6000 km on its way to heliocentric orbit. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1959-012A Luna-2 was launched on the 12th of September of the same year, hitting the Moon on the 14th in the Palus Putredinus region (0 degrees longitude, 29 degrees N latitude) near the crater Archimedes. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1959-014A Luna-3 was launched less than a month later on 4th October (the second anniversary of Sputnik-1), swung around the Moon to image the far side on the 7th and transmittted its data to the Earth by the 18th. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1959-008A I don't know about you but I'm thinking of raising a glass of champagne a day later than New Year's Day in honour of Korolev and his merry band of pioneers. Happy Holidays to All, Tolis. |
|
|
Dec 9 2008, 10:26 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 547 Joined: 1-May 06 From: Scotland (Ecosse, Escocia) Member No.: 759 |
I'm very familiar with Phil's 3 flights, and I mention each of those 3 Lunas in my talks to various audiences, with a brief discussion about what each did. Luna 2 had really tough metal balls inside with Communist symbols and pennants designed to survive impact, so there will be items there at the impact site, I suspect. I will go with Phil and raise a glass on 2nd Jan, or maybe it should be 3 times, on 2 other days also? They were great achievements in the human endeavour in space.
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 11:11 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |