Cold War (1953–1962) human on the moon. The first of the Lunar missions was Luna 1, which launched on January 2, 1959. Its successful mission established the first rocket engine restart within Earth orbit and the first man-made object to establish heliocentric orbit. Luna 2, which launched on September 14, 1959, established the first impact into another celestial body (the moon). Finally, Luna 3 launched on October 7, 1959 and took the first pictures of the dark side of the moon. After these three missions in 1953, the Soviets continued their exploration of the moon and its environment in 21 other Luna missions.
Luna 2 "СССР январь 1959" ("USSR January 1959") on the other side. They most likely vaporized on impact, however. The third pennant was located in the last stage of the "Luna 2" rocket, which collided with the Moon's surface 30 minutes after the spacecraft did. It was a capsule filled with liquid, with aluminium strips placed into it. On each of these strips the USSR Coat of Arms, the words "1959 январь" ("1959 January"), and the words "СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК" (English: "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics") were engraved. On September 15, 1959, the premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, presented