Luna 1: Difference between revisions
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| programme = '''[[Luna programme]]''' | | programme = '''[[Luna programme]]''' | ||
| previous_mission = ''[[Luna E-1 No.3 | | previous_mission = ''[[Luna E-1 No.3]]'' | ||
| next_mission = ''[[Luna E-1A No.1 | | next_mission = ''[[Luna E-1A No.1]]'' | ||
|interplanetary = | |interplanetary = | ||
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP | {{Infobox spaceflight/IP | ||
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The satellite and rocket carrying ''Luna 1'' was originally referred to as the Soviet Space Rocket by the Soviet Press.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} Pravda writer [[Alexander Kazantsev]] called it ''Mechta'' ({{langx|ru|Мечта}}, meaning 'dream').<ref name=alkaz>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38762024/the_plain_speaker/|title=New Soviet Rocket Given Name 'Mechta'|newspaper=The Plain Speaker |agency=Associated Press|date=5 January 1959|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Darling|2003|p=244}} Citizens of Moscow unofficially deemed it ''Lunik'', a combination of Luna (Moon) and [[Sputnik]].<ref name=alkaz/> It was renamed to ''Luna 1'' in 1963.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} | The satellite and rocket carrying ''Luna 1'' was originally referred to as the Soviet Space Rocket by the Soviet Press.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} Pravda writer [[Alexander Kazantsev]] called it ''Mechta'' ({{langx|ru|Мечта}}, meaning 'dream').<ref name=alkaz>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38762024/the_plain_speaker/|title=New Soviet Rocket Given Name 'Mechta'|newspaper=The Plain Speaker |agency=Associated Press|date=5 January 1959|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Darling|2003|p=244}} Citizens of Moscow unofficially deemed it ''Lunik'', a combination of Luna (Moon) and [[Sputnik]].<ref name=alkaz/> It was renamed to ''Luna 1'' in 1963.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} | ||
The spherical satellite was powered by [[mercury battery|mercury-oxide batteries]] and [[silver zinc battery|silver-zinc accumulators]].<ref name=nssdc/> There were five | The spherical satellite was powered by [[mercury battery|mercury-oxide batteries]] and [[silver zinc battery|silver-zinc accumulators]].<ref name=nssdc/> There were five antennas on one hemisphere, four whip-style and one rigid, for communication purposes. The spacecraft also contained [[radio equipment]] including a [[tracking transmitter]] and [[telemetry]] system.<ref name=nssdc/> There was no propulsion system.<ref name=nssdc/> | ||
''Luna 1'' was designed to impact the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the [[Soviet coat of arms]] that were included into its payload package.<ref name=nssdc/> It also had six instruments to study the Moon upon its suicidal approach. The flux-gate [[magnetometer]] was triaxial and could measure ± 3000 [[Tesla_(unit)#Conversion_to_non-SI_units|gammas]]. It was designed to detect lunar magnetic fields.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1959-012A-01 |title=Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer |date=28 October 2022 |website=NASA NSSDCA |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} 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.{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} Four ion traps, used to measure solar wind and plasma, were included. They were developed by Konstantin Gringauz.{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} The scientific payload also included two gas-discharge [[Geiger counter]]s, a sodium-iodide [[scintillation counter]], and a [[Cherenkov detector]]. The upper stage of the rocket contained a scintillation counter and {{convert|1|kg|lb}} of sodium for a gas-dispersion experiment.<ref name=nssdc/>{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} | ''Luna 1'' was designed to impact the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the [[Soviet coat of arms]] that were included into its payload package.<ref name=nssdc/> It also had six instruments to study the Moon upon its suicidal approach. The flux-gate [[magnetometer]] was triaxial and could measure ± 3000 [[Tesla_(unit)#Conversion_to_non-SI_units|gammas]]. It was designed to detect lunar magnetic fields.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1959-012A-01 |title=Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer |date=28 October 2022 |website=NASA NSSDCA |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} 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.{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} Four ion traps, used to measure solar wind and plasma, were included. They were developed by Konstantin Gringauz.{{sfn|Harvey|2007b|p=26}} The scientific payload also included two gas-discharge [[Geiger counter]]s, a sodium-iodide [[scintillation counter]], and a [[Cherenkov detector]]. The upper stage of the rocket contained a scintillation counter and {{convert|1|kg|lb}} of sodium for a gas-dispersion experiment.<ref name=nssdc/>{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=11}} | ||
Latest revision as of 07:26, 23 September 2025
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox spaceflight
Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Template:Langx Script error: No such module "IPA"., lit.: Dream), E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover,Template:Sfn 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"[1] and renamed Mechta (Dream).Template:Sfn Luna 1 was also referred to as the "First Cosmic Ship",[1] in reference to its achievement of Earth escape velocity.
Spacecraft
The satellite and rocket carrying Luna 1 was originally referred to as the Soviet Space Rocket by the Soviet Press.Template:Sfn Pravda writer Alexander Kazantsev called it Mechta (Template:Langx, meaning 'dream').[2]Template:Sfn Citizens of Moscow unofficially deemed it Lunik, a combination of Luna (Moon) and Sputnik.[2] It was renamed to Luna 1 in 1963.Template:Sfn
The spherical satellite was powered by mercury-oxide batteries and silver-zinc accumulators.[3] There were five antennas on one hemisphere, four whip-style and one rigid, for communication purposes. The spacecraft also contained radio equipment including a tracking transmitter and telemetry system.[3] There was no propulsion system.[3]
Luna 1 was designed to impact the Moon, delivering two metallic pennants with the Soviet coat of arms that were included into its payload package.[3] It also had six instruments to study the Moon upon its suicidal approach. The flux-gate magnetometer was triaxial and could measure ± 3000 gammas. It was designed to detect lunar magnetic fields.[4]Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Four ion traps, used to measure solar wind and plasma, were included. They were developed by Konstantin Gringauz.Template:Sfn 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 Template:Convert of sodium for a gas-dispersion experiment.[3]Template:Sfn
The spacecraft weighed Template:Convert at launch.Template:Sfn It was about Template:Convert in diameter.[5]
Launch
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.Template:Sfn 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 delayed,Template:Sfn and the prolonged burn imparted an extra 175 m/s to Luna 1.Template:Sfn
Consequently Luna 1 missed its target by Template:Convert. The spacecraft passed within Template:Convert 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.[3]Template:Sfn Luna 1 ran out of battery power on 5 January, when it was Template:Convert from Earth, making it impossible to track further.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The batteries were designed for a minimum of 40 hours but lasted for 62.Template:Sfn
Luna 1 became the first artificial object to reach the escape velocity of the Earth,Template:Sfn along with its carrier rocket's Template:Convert[3] upper stage, which it separated from after being the first spacecraft to reach heliocentric orbit.Template:Sfn It remains in orbit around the Sun, between the orbits of Earth and Mars.[3]
Experiment results
At 00:57 GMT on 3 January 1959, at a distance of Template:Convert from Earth,Template:Sfn Template:Convert 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[6] and to observe the behavior of gas in space.[3] This glowing orange trail of gas, visible over the Indian Ocean with the brightness of a sixth-magnitude star for a few minutes, was photographed by Mstislav Gnevyshev at the Mountain Station of the Main Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR near Kislovodsk.[7]
While traveling through the outer Van Allen radiation belt, the spacecraft's scintillator made observations indicating that a small number of high-energy particles exist in the outer belt. The measurements obtained during this mission provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space. The craft was unable to detect a lunar magnetic field which placed an upper limit on its strength of 1/10,000th of Earth's.[3][8] The first-ever direct observations and measurements of solar wind,Template:Sfn[3] a strong flow of ionized plasma emanating from the Sun and streaming through interplanetary space, were performed.[3] The ionized plasma concentration was measured to be some 700 particles per cm3 at altitudes of 20,000–25,000 km and 300 to 400 particles per cm3 at altitudes of 100,000–150,000 km.[7] The spacecraft also marked the first instance of radio communication at the half-million-kilometer distance.
Reaction
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 the United States could pick up signals from the spacecraft, it was already Template:Convert away.Template:Sfn 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.[9]
The Soviet Union issued stamps to commemorate their success.Template:Sfn
Subsequent missions
Luna 2, the second spacecraft of the Ye-1A series, successfully completed the mission on 13 September 1959.[10]
See also
Script error: No such module "Portal".
- Pioneer 4 – a similar NASA mission launched 3 March 1959, two months after Luna 1.
- List of missions to the Moon
References
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Boris Chertok, "Rakety i liudi: goriachie dni, kholodnoy voyny", Moscow, "Mashinostroenie", 2nd edition (1999). Sect. 2–7.
- Zarya – Luna 1 chronology
External links
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".