Luna 3, or E-2A No.1, was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. The historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon was created from the pictures.
A 1:1 scale model at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow
Luna 3 mission on a Soviet stamp
Luna 3 phototelegraph system at Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
The first view returned by Luna 3 showed the far side of the Moon was very different from the near side, most noticeably in its lack of lunar maria (the dark areas)
The Luna programme, occasionally called Lunik by western media, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. The programme accomplished many firsts in space exploration, including first flyby of the Moon, first impact of the Moon and first photos of the far side of the Moon. Each mission was designed as either an orbiter or lander. They also performed many experiments, studying the Moon's chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation.
Luna 1 impactor
Model of Lunokhod vehicle
Image: FP2A3122 (23497693608)
Image: DLR School Lab Dresden (20)