controlling the engine burns, so they communicated to the rocket via radio. The signal to stop firing the engine Block E stage was delayed, and the prolonged burn imparted an extra 175 m/s to Luna 1.

Consequently Luna 1 missed its target by 5995 km. The spacecraft passed within 5995 - 6400 km of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight, and then became the first human made object to leave Earth's orbit on January 6, 1959. Luna 1 ran out of battery power on 5 January, when it was 597000 km from Earth, making it impossible