Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-09-14
Rocket Success Provides
Drama for Khrushchev
MOON
Continued From First Page

citizens shared copies as they
rode to work on the subway
this morning, several budding
around each paper to read as
they rode.
A front page drawing showed
a star glowing on a Kremlin
tower, lighting up a cosmic ball
carrying a hammer and sickle
pennant upward.
The Russians were clearly
delighted about the success of
this effort in the enhancement
Of Soviet prestige as Mr..
Khrushchev prepared to start
his exchange OF visits with
President Eisenhower.
Manned Flight Next
Alexander Topchiev, vice
president of the U. S. S. r.
Academy o Sciences. said the
rocket should be followed by a
manned flight to the moon.
A manned flight will be an
extremely difficult task, he said,
but lit is a meter of the not
too distant future"
He spoke at a news confer
ence in the Academy'S assembly
hall, crowded with Soviet and
foreign correspondents. The
news conference was arranged
by the Academy's presidium
and the state committee for
cultural relations with foreign
countries.
Others who appeared to give
reports and answer questions f
were Academician Leonid Sedov
and two corresponding mem
berS Of the academy, Yevgeny
Fyodorov and Sergei Vernon.
Vast Information
Mr.. Topchiev said the moon
shot provided a vast amount
OF information that is now
being proceSsed. Preliminary
reports indicated that all scISN-
tiflc instruments in the rocket
functioned normally up to the
moment of impact, he said.
He told the newsmen that
launching of the rocket means
throwing of a first bridge
across the endless realms of
space.
The Russians did not dis
close the exact time or site of
the rocket launching, but
newsmen estimated that it
took of sometime early Sat-
urday. They reckoned that the
capsule scared 236,l60 miles
to the moon in something like
IS hours. Il
The rocket carried pennants
bearing the Soviet hammer
and-sickle emblem and an in
scription Union of Soviet So
cialistic Republics. Septem-
Der, 1889"
Sharp Prestige Boost II
The Soviet news agency Tass
said special measures had been
taken to make sure the pen
nants bearing the emblem re-
manned intact despite the ter
rife impact Of the moon land
ing. ~
rhe dramatic shot, sure to
give Mr.. Khrushchev's i'm
pending visit a sharp prestige
boost. marked the first time
man has lobbed a missile
through space to hit a celestial
target.
News Of the fight was hailed
on both sides of the Iron Cur
tain as major scientific
achievement.
In Jodrell Bank, England,
Prof. Alfred Lowell, in charge
OF the worlds biggest radio
telescope, termed the moon
rocket "a brilliant demonstra-
ton Of the advanced state of
Russian technology"
Tracked at T0drelI
The telescope tracked the ,
rocket during the final stages ,
Of its journey and the first in
dication it had landed on the
moon came when Prof. Lowell
announced the rockets signals |
had stopped ;
American scientists congrat-
ulated Russia on her feat and |
expressed hope information
cleaned from the rocket would
be shared with the world.
Pravda, official Communist
Party newspaper, said, The
second Soviet space rocket has I
reaffirmed the leading role of
the U. S. S. r. in the highly
important spheres of science
and technology, in fathoming
the mysteries of the universe.
Acclaiming the --latest re-
markable successes of the
Soviet Union" Pravada added {
world public opinion en-
phasizes the tremendous i'm
portance" of Mr.. Khrushchev's /
forthcoming visit to the United
States.
Russians Follow Reports
In Moscow, Soviet citizens
stood tensely by their radios as
step by step reports were
broadcast of the trail blazing
2.05-miles-a-second fight.
Shortly before midnight, the
Moscow radio announcer began
counting nov just five