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Luna 2 was the second of the Luna program of spacecraft launched in the direction of the Moon. The first spacecraft to land on the Moon, it impacted the lunar surface east of Mare SerenitatisLuna 21, Apollo 15, and Apollo 17. Mare Serenitatis (the "sea of serenity") is a lunar mare that sits just to the east of Mare Imbrium. It is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian epoch. The material surrounding the mare is of th near the AristidesA horse named Aristides won the very first Kentucky Derby way back in 1875. There is proof of this available here http://www. kentuckyderby. com/2003/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1875. html Note ''This article is about Aristides the statesman. For the, ArchimedesSee also Archimedes computer, Archimedes (disambiguation). Archimedes of Syracuse (circa 287 BC 212 BC), was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physicist and engineer. He was killed by a Roman soldier during the sack of the city, despite orde, and AutolycusIn Greek mythology, Autolycus or Autolykos was the son of Chione and Hermes and father of Anticlea. He was a renowned thief (skills passed down from his father) and wrestler (which he taught to Heracles). Autolycus stole the cattle of Eurytus and the helm craters. Luna 2 was similar in design to Luna 1Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon and the first of the Luna program of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. While passing through the outer Van Allen radiation belt, the spacecraft's, a spherical spacecraft with protruding antennae and instrument parts. The instrumentation was also similar, including scintillation counters, geiger counters, a magnetometer, and micrometeorite detector s. The spacecraft also carried Soviet pennants. There were no propulsion systems on Luna 2 itself.

After launch and attainment of escape velocity on September 13 1959, Luna 2 separated from its third stage, which travelled along with it towards the Moon. On September 13 the spacecraft released a bright orange cloud of sodium gas which aided in spacecraft tracking and acted as an experiment on the behavior of gas in space. On September 14, after 33.5 hours of flight, radio signals from Luna 2 abruptly ceased, indicating it had impacted on the Moon. The impact point, in the Palus Putredinus region, is roughly estimated to have occurred at 0 degrees longitude, 29.1 degrees N latitude. Some 30 minutes after Luna 2, the third stage of its rocket also impacted the Moon. The mission confirmed that the Moon had no appreciable magnetic field, and found no evidence of radiation belts at the Moon.