Talk:Luna 2/Archive 1

Archive 1

Pennants

I added info about USSR pennants. On the photo are elements of these pennants. I also found very nice photo of the spherical pennant here [1]. But its source is not mentioned there and there is no any copyright information on that page. If this image can be uploaded under some of Wiki copyright tags, everybody is welcome to do this, replacing the image, uploaded by myself today. Cmapm 00:03, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I added further information on the spheres. It may want to be added that in total 5 spheres were ever made, one on the moon, one exploded during launch, one lost, and the other two in Kansas. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrcan (talk • contribs) 13:27, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Launch/impact moment

Launch/impact moments corrected [2]. Cmapm 11:09, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC).

The launch time is also approved by Jonathan McDowell's list entry [3], referenced from there to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, and by some other sources (like [4]).

The impact moment is approved by already mentioned ref. and many other Russian sources, beginning with dated back to September 14 1959 message in Pravda [5]. The wrong (I believe) "estimated" impact time (1959.09.14 ~7:30 UTC) mentioned in many English sources, I think, mostly resulted from previous Wiki info, which itself came from wrong NASA published info [6]. I also think, that the wrong info on the NASA page resulted from summing the "flight duration" (33.5 hrs) with the wrong launch time (1959.09.12 22:02:24 UTC). 7:30 UTC is unbelievable for me, for example, because of the above mentioned message in Pravda, because 7:30 UTC is 9:30 Moscow time and Pravda usually was issued as early as at ~6 o'clock in the morning (Moscow time). Cmapm 19:41, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I found equivalent up/down times at the Zarya site.[7]. Too bad he doesn't cite sources. Amusing: in his book Cernan says Luna 2 made a crater 90 feet wide. (Noone claims to have accurate coordinates, so ....) Twang (talk) 02:08, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Luna 1 and Solar Wind

I don't understand: If Luna 1 provided the first evidence of the solar wind, shouldn't Luna 1 be credited with discovering it? Or was the evidence inconclusive? Thanks. Jimaginator 12:04, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

It should, I believe. Some English sources, which support this claim (including Luna 1 description from NASA):[8][9] [10]Cmapm 01:27, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes, Gringauz saw evidence of the solar wind with Luna-1, but he wanted to repeat the experiment in Luna-2 before announcing. It was his decision to rearange the ion traps into a tetrahedral configuration to get a more careful measurement of the phenomenon. DonPMitchell (talk) 21:12, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

science@nasa

science@nasa links here --E-Bod 00:09, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

landing co-ordinates

Was the 0 degrees longitude in place before the impact or was it declared as 0 degrees because that's the spot where the first manmade object hit? AMCKen 03:12, 28 August 2007 (UTC)AMCKen

this source seems to indicate that 0 longitude was defined as the meridian bisecting the moon's face as seen from earth prior to Luna 2's impact. Can anyone confirm this? I'm astounded that neither Luna 2 nor Moon discuss this. Also, why is Luna 2's impact point only "roughly estimated"? -- Super Aardvark 23:11, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Probably because after impact it ceased sending signals back so I am guessing there was no way to pinpoint exactly where it impacted. --ukexpat 19:12, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

The landing coordinates of Luna-2 are quite uncertain. See the discussion on my website about the various ways this was estimated: http://www.mentallandscape.com/L_Luna2.htm DonPMitchell (talk) 19:40, 9 February 2009 (UTC)