Luna 1 (E-1 series), first known as First Cosmic Ship, then known as Mechta (Russian: , lit.: Dream) was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna program of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. Luna 1 was launched 2 January 1959 at 16:41 GMT (19:41 Moscow Time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Luna 8K72 rocket. Read more