Luna 9

7.130° -64.370° · Oceanus Procellarum

First survivable soft landing on another world.

Trajectory

Hohmann transfer to the Moon, then a retro-rocket braking burn that slowed Luna 9 from ~2,600 m/s to 1.5 m/s in the final seconds before touchdown. An airbag-cushioned pod was ejected just before impact, bouncing and rolling to rest as the first survivable soft landing on another world.

Source: Roscosmos / Wikipedia Commons

Details

Operator: Lavochkin
Country: Soviet Union
Era: soviet
Duration: 4 days