William Atkins
Friday, 02 January 2009 23:05
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
Among the spacecraft’s many achievements was the first direct observation and measurement of the solar wind, a flow of ionized plasma that originates from the Sun and flows out in all directions.
The instruments onboard Luna 1 found that the solar wind contained about 700 particles per cubic centimeter at an altitude of 20,000 to 25,000 kilometers (12,400 to 15,500 miles) above the surface of the Earth.
At about 100,000 to 150,000 kilometers above Earth, the solar wind was found to have about 300 to 400 particles per cubic centimeter.
The spacecraft held various equipment including a tracking transmitter, telemetry system, scintillation counter, Geiger counter, micrometeorite detector, magnetometer, and radio equipment.
The mission of Luna 1 was originally programmed to crash into the Moon. However, an error in its ground-based control system contained an error and the rocket did not burn the proper amount of fuel to direct the spacecraft onto the lunar surface.
Luna 1 did not contain any rockets once it was on its way to the Moon. Its launching rocket simply burned what was thought the proper amount of fuel to get it to the Moon in order to crash onto its surface.
Thus, Luna 1 could only glide to the Moon without the use of any onboard guidance systems.
Page three concludes the 50-year-old Luna 1 story.
