dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (01/02/86)
This is the anniversary of the launch of the first artificial planet. More -- after this. January 2: The First Artificial Planet On today's date in the year 1959, the Soviet Union launched what would become the first man-made object to go into orbit around the sun. This spacecraft was called Luna 1, and was otherwise known as Mechta. Mechta didn't pause to orbit the Earth even once. It was sent directly on a trajectory for the moon -- which it passed some 34 hours after launch. It came as near the moon as about three thousand miles and took data on lunar magnetism -- and on the environment of space. That outer space environment had never been sampled before. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had launched craft into Earth-orbit -- but neither country took the plunge into deep space until the Soviets launched Mechta in 1959. It was only their fourth space launch. Some Western observers later concluded that Mechta was meant to impact the moon -- but missed. An impact mission can return data from much closer to the moon. But a lunar flyby would operate longer and could sample a greater area of space. Today, we still aren't sure which one Mechta was meant to be -- but we do know it passed the moon on January 4, 1959 -- and continued to transmit data until 62 hours after launch. The little metal sphere -- equipped with its now-silent instruments -- went on to orbit around the sun -- thereby becoming the first artificial planet. Script by Deborah Byrd Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin