Space Tech Anniversary: Luna 9 Lands on the Moon

February 3, 1966: The first spacecraft to land on any non-Earth planetary body, the Soviet Union’s unmanned Luna 9 reaches the Moon. Equipped with radio and television capability, heat control system, power sources and a radiation detector, the payload touched down in Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”). Immediately thereafter, the four-panel seal opened and Luna […]