Luna 9
Overview
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's Luna program. On February 3, 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing
Soft landing (rocketry)
A soft landing is any type of aircraft or rocket landing that does not result in the destruction of the vehicle or anything onboard. Unlike a hard landing, soft landings are very smooth and steady. They are often called 'good landings' because of the smooth way the aircraft lands....
on any planetary body other than Earth and to transmit photographic data to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The automatic lunar station that achieved the survivable landing weighed 99 kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
. It used a landing bag and survived the impact at 15 meters/second (54 km/h or 34 mph).
