Spacecraft lands on the Moon

September 14, 1959: Luna 2 took a direct path to the Moon, starting with an initial velocity from Earth of 11.2 kilometres per second (25,000 mph) and impacting on the Moon at about 3.3 kilometres per second (7,400 mph). It hit the Moon about 0° West and 29.1° North of the centre of the visible disk at 00:02:24 (Moscow Time) on 14 September 1959.