Luna 1

Date: January 4, 1959

Luna 1 was the first satellite launched by the USSR to reach the moon and to get out of the escape velocity of earth. It was also the first to successfully be aimed at the moon.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/thumbnail/spacecraft/luna1_vsm.gif

This spacecraft was sphere shaped, with antennas extending from the top. This satellite also did not have any propulsion system installed in it.  “The spacecraft contained radio equipment, a tracking transmitter, a telemetering system, five different sets of scientific devices for studying interplanetary space, including a magnetometer, geiger counter, scintillation counter, and micrometeorite detector, and other equipment.” (NASA.gov).

On the 3^rd of January, the satellite spewed a bunch of orange gas into space. This gas was able to be seen from earth.  This gas served as a way for astronomers to track the progress of the satellite, as well as an experiment to see how gas reacted in space. When it received an incorrect signal from the ground-based control center, the satellite missed the Moon by about 5,900 km on January 4^th. The satellite also went into orbit with the Sun, between the orbits of the earth and the Moon.

The measurements obtained during this mission provided new data about the Earth's radiation belt and outer space, as well as the discovery that the Moon had no magnetic field and that a solar wind, a strong flow of ionized plasma emanating from the Sun, streamed through interplanetary space (NASA.gov).

This satellite would be the first of a series of missions to be launched to the moon.