Editing Luna 2 (section)

== Cultural significance ==
According to Donald William Cox, [[Americans]] were starting to believe that they were making progress in the [[Space Race]] and that although the Soviet Union might have had larger rockets, the United States had better guidance systems, but these beliefs were questioned when the Soviets were able to impact ''Luna 2'' on the Moon.{{sfn|Cox|1962|pp=47, 118}}<ref name=HistoryToday/> At that time the closest Americans had come to the Moon was about {{convert|60000|km|mi}} with [[Pioneer 4]].<ref name=HistoryToday>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/soviet-union-first-moon|title=The Soviet Union is first to the Moon|year=2009|magazine=History Today|volume=59|issue=9|last1=Cavendish|first1=Richard}}</ref> Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]], on [[1959 Khrushchev visit to the United States|his only visit to the United States]], gave President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] a replica of the Soviet pennants that ''Luna 2'' had just placed onto the lunar surface.<ref name=HistoryToday />{{sfn|Daniloff|1972|p=105}}