The 1959 Moon Missions

Years before Pink Floyd recorded anything, the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 3, took the first picture of the darkside of the moon.

Groundbreaking Missions. No Photos.

Earlier probes did interesting work. Luna 1 performed a number of scientific experiments on its lunar flyby mission in January 1959. For example, it revealed that the moon had no magnetic field. And the September 1959 flight of Luna 2 became the first craft to land (actually crash) on the moon, impacting east of Mare Serenitatis, presumably interrupting the serenity of the ancient lunar “sea”.

What Luna 3 Revealed.

But those spacecraft sent no pictures. And Luna 3 left us with the historic and striking photo that appears here. And it established that the farside was indeed different from the side of the moon we see from earth. Because the farside is even more full of impacts and craters…and many fewer smooth regions, the so-called “seas.” Although later photos—especially from the Apollo missions—would return far better images, there is something fascinating and charming about this old photo—which will be turning 50 in about two months.

Luna 3 is believed to have returned from the moon and burned up re-entering the atmosphere.