Luna 2 also crash land on the Moon in exactly the same way. Crash landing proved useful even after soft landing was mastered. NASA used crash landings to test whether Moon craters contained ice by crashing space probes into craters and testing the debris that got thrown out. The satellite's impact made it the first man-made object to land on another celestial body. "Luna 2" carried 5 different instruments to conduct various tests while it was on its way to the Moon. The scintillation counters would be used to measure any ionizing radiation; the Cherenkov radiation detectors would be measuring for electromagnetic
Luna (rocket) to a guidance malfunction of the Blok A core stage, leading to RSO destruct. Luna 2 was launched by a Luna 8K72 12 September 1959. It was the first spacecraft to impact the lunar surface. The final successful launch of a Luna 8K72 took place 4 October 1959. The Luna 3 spacecraft took the first photographs of the far side of the Moon. The eighth flight of a Luna 8K72 (March 1960) ended 435 seconds after launch when the Blok E upper stage developed insufficient thrust, causing the Luna probe to reenter the atmosphere and burn up. The ninth flight