March 18, 2019
#2125: Luna 2 explain
[Cueball is standing behind while Megan sits at a laptop.]
Megan: Huh. Luna 2, the first artificial object to touch another world, carried a sphere made of steel Soviet flag emblems.
[A patterned sphere is shown blowing up to pieces.]
It was designed to blow apart on impact, scattering tiny metal flags and ribbons across the surface of the moon.
[Close-up of Cueball and Megan’s faces.]
Cueball: So the first physical contact humans had with a heavenly body…
Megan: …was throwing a shrapnel grenade full of flags at it.
Cueball: Well, it’s on-brand for us, at least.