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 1 first instance of radio communication at the half-million-kilometer distance. A malfunction in the ground-based control system caused an error in the rocket's burntime, and the spacecraft missed the target and flew by the Moon at a distance of 5,900 km at the closest point. "Luna 1" then became the first man-made object to reach heliocentric orbit and was then dubbed a "new planet" and renamed "Mechta" ("Dream"). "Luna 1" was also referred to as the "First Cosmic Rocket", in reference to its achievement of escape velocity. "Luna 1" contained radio equipment including a tracking transmitter and telemetry system, and five