Luna 1 / E-1 Credit - NASA

The first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity and the first to reach the Moon. The spacecraft was sphere-shaped. Five antennae extended from one hemisphere. Instrument ports also protruded from the surface of the sphere. There were no propulsion systems on the spacecraft itself. The spacecraft also included various metallic emblems with the Soviet coat of arms.

At a distance of 113,000 km from Earth, a large (1 kg) cloud of sodium gas was released by the spacecraft. This glowing orange trail of gas, with the brightness of a sixth-magnitude star, allowed astronomers to track the spacecraft. It also served as an experiment on the behavior of gas in outer space. The spacecraft contained radio equipment, a tracking transmitter, and 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. The measurements obtained during the missions provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space, including 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.

Mass: 361 kg (795 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72.

• 1958 December 4 - Luna failure - booster core shut down at T+245 seconds - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72. FAILURE: Core engines shut off at 245 seconds into the flight. Cause was a loss of lubrication to the hydrogen peroxide pump.

• 1958 March 20 - Soviet lunar probes authorised. - Program: Luna. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72.

  Decree 'On work on automated lunar probes and three-stage launch vehicles for them' was issued.

• 1958 October 11 - Luna failure - booster disintegrated at T+104 seconds - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72. FAILURE: Launcher disintegrated 104 seconds after launch due to longitudinal resonance of strap-ons.

• 1958 September 2 - Launch of Soviet Luna probes authorised. - Program: Luna. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72.

  Decree 'On launch of automated lunar probes November' was issued.

• 1958 September 23 - Luna failure - booster disintegrated at T+92 seconds - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72. FAILURE: Launcher disintegrated 93 seconds after launch due to longitudinal resonance of strap-ons.

  This was the start of an acrimonious debated between Glushko and Korolev design bureaux over the fault and fix for the problem.

• 1959 January 2 - Luna 1 - Program: Luna. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Luna 8K72. FAILURE: Failure of the launch vehicle control system. Mass: 361 kg (795 lb).

  Lunar probe; passed within 5,995 km of moon but did not hit it as planned due to a failure of the launch vehicle control system. Went into solar orbit. First manmade object to attain of escape velocity. Also known as Mechta ("Dream"), popularly called Lunik I. Because of its high velocity and its announced package of various metallic emblems with the Soviet coat of arms, it was concluded that Luna 1 was intended to impact the Moon. After reaching escape velocity, Luna 1 separated from its 1472 kg third stage. The third stage, 5.2 m long and 2.4 m in diameter, travelled along with Luna 1. On 3 January, at a distance of 113,000 km from Earth, a large (1 kg) cloud of sodium gas was released by the spacecraft. This glowing orange trail of gas, visible over the Indian Ocean with the brightness of a sixth-magnitude star, allowed astronomers to track the spacecraft. It also served as an experiment on the behavior of gas in outer space. Luna 1 passed within 5,995 km of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight. It went into orbit around the Sun, between the orbits of Earth and Mars. The measurements obtained during this mission provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space, including the discovery that the Moon had no magnetic field and that a solar wind, a strong flow of ionized plasma emmanating from the Sun, streamed through interplanetary space.

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• National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. Accessed at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html.

• Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003. ISBN: 0813026288. The definitive history of the Soviet manned space program in the 1960's to the early 1970's. Originally published as the the latter part of 'Challenge to Apollo' by NASA in 2000 as NASA SP-2000-4408. More at amazon.com...