September 14, 1959 - For the first time a man-made object lands on the moon

Luna 2 or Lunik-2 was the second Soviet spacecraft in the "Luna" programme and the first human spacecraft to reach the lunar surface.

On 12 September 1959, it lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Powered by a Vostok rocket, without thrusters or trajectory correction options, it was scheduled to crash into the lunar surface in the Palus Putredinis area.

This probe, weighing 390 kg and with a diameter of 0.9 metres, reached the Moon on 13 September and, before impact, was to carry out measurements of various variables useful for future manned missions. It carried scintillation counters, Geiger counters, a magnetometer, Cherenkov (electromagnetic radiation) detectors, and micrometeorite detectors.

On 14 September, after sending the expected data, it crashed on schedule, becoming the first man-made object to reach the lunar surface.