Luna 9 makes the first soft landing on the Moon

On 3 February 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9 settled gently onto the Ocean of Storms and became the first spacecraft to make a controlled soft landing on another celestial body. After the long fall, a cushioning system let a small, sealed capsule survive impact and right itself on the lunar dust.

Hours later, Luna 9 did something no machine had done before: it sent back panoramic photographs taken from the surface of the Moon. The grainy images settled a nagging question that had haunted mission planners — whether the lunar surface was firm ground or a treacherous sea of deep dust that would swallow a lander.

The pictures proved the Moon could bear a spacecraft’s weight, clearing a path toward crewed landings.

The probe operated for about three days before its batteries died on 6 February 1966. Its brief success was a landmark of the Space Race and a direct rehearsal for the soft landings that followed.