Первая советская лунная станция "Луна-1" ("Мечта")

Soviet spacecraft

Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Мечта , lit. : Dream), E 1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover, was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, the first spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, and the first to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as a Moon impactor, Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959. A malfunction in the ground based control system caused an error in the upper stage rocket's burn time, and the spacecraft missed the Moon by 5,900 km (more than three times the Moon's radius). Luna 1 became the first human made object to reach heliocentric orbit and was dubbed "Artificial Planet 1" and renamed Mechta (Dream). Luna 1 was also referred to as the "First Cosmic Ship", Citizens of Moscow unofficially deemed it Lunik, a combination of Luna (Moon) and Sputnik. Two micrometeorite detectors, developed by Tatiana Nazarova of the Vernadsky Institute, were installed on the spacecraft. They each consisted of a metal plate with springs and could detect small impacts. Four ion traps, used to measure solar wind and plasma, were included. They were developed by Konstantin Gringauz. The scientific payload also included two gas discharge Geiger counters, a sodium iodide scintillation counter, and a Cherenkov detector. The upper stage of the rocket contained a scintillation counter and of sodium for a gas dispersion experiment.

Luna 1 was launched at 16:41 GMT (22:41 local time) on 2 January 1959 from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Luna 8K72 rocket. The first three stages operated nominally. The Soviet engineers did not trust automated systems for controlling the engine burns, so they communicated to the rocket via radio. The signal to stop firing the engine Block E stage was sent too late, and it imparted an extra 175 m/s to Luna 1. Consequently Luna 1 missed its target by The spacecraft passed within of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight, and then became the first human made object to leave Earth's orbit on January 6, 1959.

At 00:57 GMT on 3 January 1959, at a distance of from Earth, of sodium gas was released by the spacecraft, forming a cloud behind it to serve as an artificial comet. The cloud was released for two purposes: to allow visual tracking of the spacecraft's trajectory and to observe the behavior of gas in space. The first ever direct observations and measurements of solar wind, The spacecraft also marked the first instance of radio communication at the half million kilometer distance.

Some doubted the veracity of the Soviets' claim of mission success. Lloyd Mallan wrote about it in a book called The Big Red Lie. Many in the West did not receive transmissions from the spacecraft even though the Soviets publicized them before the flight. By the time the Earth rotated so that scientists in America could pick up signals from the spacecraft, it was already away. In May 1959 several hearings Soviet Space Technology before the Committee on Science and Astronautics and Special Subcommittee on Lunik Probe of the United States House of Representatives attested the achievements of the Soviet mission and its sophisticated guidance technology. The Soviet Union issued stamps to commemorate their success.

Luna 2, the second spacecraft of the Ye 1A series, successfully completed the mission on 13 September 1959.