Luna 2 Luna 2 Luna 2 (E-1A series) or Lunik 2 was the second of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first man-made object to land on another celestial body. On September 13, 1959, it hit the Moon's surface east of Mare Imbrium near the craters Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus. Launch was scheduled for September 9, but the Blok I core stage was shut down after it failed to reach full thrust at ignition. The booster was removed from the pad and replaced by
Cel (goddess) Cel (goddess) Cel was the Etruscan goddess of the earth. On the Etruscan calendar, the month of "Celi" (September) is likely named for her. Her Greek counterpart is Gaia and her Roman is Tellus. In Etruscan mythology, Cel was the mother of the Giants. A bronze mirror from the 5th century BC depicts a theomachy in which Celsclan, "son of Cel," is a Giant attacked by Laran, the god of war. In Greek, "giant" comes from a word meaning "born from Gaia". Another mirror depicts anguiped Giants in the company of a goddess, possibly Cel, whose lower body is formed