# Luna 9: First Images from the Moon's Surface
Published: February 3, 2026
Duration: 1:46
# This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.
Good evening, stargazers! Today we're celebrating February 3rd, a date that marks one of the most dramatic and consequential events in modern astronomy.
On this day in 1966, the Soviet Union achieved something that seemed like pure science fiction just years before: the **Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft ever to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and transmit images back to Earth.**
Imagine the sheer audacity of this feat! We're talking about the 1960s—an era when computers had less processing power than a modern greeting card. Th...
Good evening, stargazers! Today we're celebrating February 3rd, a date that marks one of the most dramatic and consequential events in modern astronomy.
On this day in 1966, the Soviet Union achieved something that seemed like pure science fiction just years before: the **Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft ever to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and transmit images back to Earth.**
Imagine the sheer audacity of this feat! We're talking about the 1960s—an era when computers had less processing power than a modern greeting card. Th...