The Luna 2 probe hit the Moon on 13 September 1959 UTC, east of Mare Imbrium, near the craters Aristides, Archimedes and Autolycus. This poster commemorates the mission. The two spherical pennants Luna 2 scattered on impact carried the USSR coat of arms and the words СССР СЕНТЯБРЬ 1959, the same inscription as the flag on the sheet. The design also shows the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, the NS Lenin nuclear icebreaker and a swept-wing jet aircraft.
Designer unconfirmed.
On the poster
A red Soviet banner bearing the USSR state coat of arms is planted on the Moon, with the inscription "CCCP СЕНТЯБРЬ 1959" across it in white. A stylised full Moon sits in the upper left of a saturated cobalt-blue field. To the right the Spasskaya Tower rises in white outline, its five-pointed star giving off sharp radiating rays. In the midground a swept-wing jet passes above the NS Lenin, both curving across the horizon of a globe in clean white line work.
At the base, two lines of oversized vermilion Cyrillic: "ВО ИМЯ МИРА И ПРОГРЕССА!" (In the Name of Peace and Progress).
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.
