Luna 2 2" itself. Once "Luna 2" was split from its upper stage it started transmitting information back to Earth using three different transmitters. These transmitters provided precise information on its course, allowing scientists to calculate that "Luna 2" would hit its mark on the Moon around 00:05 on September 14 (Moscow Time). In order to be able to provide a visual from Earth on September 13, the spacecraft released a vapor cloud that would expand to diameter that would be seen by observatories in Alma Ata, Byurakan, Abastumani, Tbilisi, and Stalinabad. This vapor cloud also acted as an experiment to see
Deliberate crash landings on extraterrestrial bodies purposes of this article. The crash landing sites themselves are of interest to space archeology. Luna 1, not itself a lunar orbiter, was the first spacecraft designed as an impactor. It failed to hit the Moon in 1959, however, thus inadvertently becoming the first man-made object to leave geocentric orbit and enter a heliocentric orbit, where it remains to this day. ! style="text-align:left" width=" |Mission ! style="text-align:left" width=" |Country/ Agency ! style="text-align:left" width=" |Date of landing/impact ! style="text-align:left" width=" |Notes Deliberate crash landings on extraterrestrial bodies These are tables of space probes (typically orbiters or components thereof) which have been