Whose mission first landed softly on the Moon?

Luna 9 was launched by the Soviet Union and made history on 3 February 1966 by performing the first successful soft landing on another world. Unlike earlier impact missions, it survived touchdown and transmitted panoramic images from the lunar surface. The landing proved that the Moon’s surface could support a spacecraft without it sinking into deep dust, a long-standing concern. It paved the way for later robotic and human exploration.