Luna E-1 No.2

Luna 1958b, also known under the name Luna E-1 No.2, was a Soviet lunar probe and should after the failed launch of Luna 1958a as the first spacecraft ever to overcome the gravitational field of the earth onto a hard surface on the moon. It was the failure of the launch vehicle, the probe did not reach the space. It was scheduled to launch on the flight to the moon one kilograms of sodium, which should form from the earth a visible cloud. Thus they wanted to follow the path of the probe. It was followed by two more E-1 missions, with only the last one was a partial success, as indeed overcome the gravitational field of the earth, the moon, however, was missed. At the start day of Luna 1958b, the American space agency NASA launched the lunar probe Pioneer 1, but also the moon is not reached due to a failure of the launch vehicle.