![Luna 3 moon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Luna_3_moon.jpg)
As part of human
exploration of the Moon
The physical exploration of the Moon began when ''Luna 2'', a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation ...
, numerous space missions have been undertaken to study Earth's natural satellite. Of the
Moon landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United S ...
s,
Luna 2 of the Soviet Union was the first spacecraft to reach its surface successfully, intentionally impacting the Moon on 13 September 1959. In 1966,
Luna 9
Luna 9 (Луна-9), internal designation Ye-6 No.13, was an uncrewed space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. On 3 February 1966, the Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body ...
became the first spacecraft to achieve a controlled
soft landing Soft landing may refer to:
*Soft landing (aeronautics)
A soft landing is any type of aircraft, rocket or spacecraft landing that does not result in significant damage to or destruction of the vehicle or its payload, as opposed to a hard la ...
,
while
Luna 10
Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of ...
became the first mission to enter orbit.
Between 1968 and 1972, crewed missions to the Moon were conducted by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
as part of the
Apollo program.
Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to enter orbit in December 1968, and it was followed by
Apollo 10
Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and ...
in May 1969. Six missions landed humans on the Moon, beginning with
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...
in July 1969, during which
Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon.
Apollo 13 was intended to land; however, it was restricted to a flyby due to a malfunction aboard the spacecraft. All nine crewed missions returned safely to the Earth.
While the United States focused on the crewed
Apollo program, the Soviet Union conducted uncrewed missions that deployed rovers and returned samples to the Earth. Three rover missions were launched, of which two were successful, and eleven sample return flights were attempted with three successes.
Missions to the Moon have been conducted by the following nations and entities (in chronological order): the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Japan, the
European Space Agency,
China,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
. The Moon has also been visited by five spacecraft not dedicated to studying it; four spacecraft have flown past it to gain
gravity assist
In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist maneuver, or swing-by is the use of the relative movement (e.g. orbit around the Sun) and gravity of a planet or other astronomical object to alter the p ...
ance, and a radio telescope,
Explorer 49
Explorer 49 (also called Radio Astronomy Explorer-2, RAE-B) was a NASA satellite launched on 10 June 1973, for long wave radio astronomy research. It had four X-shaped antenna elements, which made it one of the largest spacecraft ever built.
...
, was placed into
selenocentric orbit in order to use the Moon to block interference from terrestrial radio sources.
Missions by date
Future missions
There are several future
lunar missions scheduled or proposed by various nations or organisations.
Funded and under development
Robotic
Crewed
Proposed but full funding still unclear
Robotic
The following
robotic
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrate ...
space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ...
missions have been proposed:
Crewed
Lunar missions by organization/company
Unrealized concepts
''examples only''
2010s
* ''
Resource Prospector'' – concept by NASA of a rover that would have performed a survey expedition on a polar region of the Moon. It was canceled in April 2018.
[NASA scraps a lunar surface mission — just as it's supposed to focus on a Moon return]
Loren Grush, ''The Verge'' April 27, 2018
See also
*
List of artificial objects on the Moon
This is a partial list of artificial materials left on the Moon, many during the missions of the Apollo program. The table below does not include lesser Apollo mission artificial objects, such as a hammer and other tools, List of retroreflectors o ...
*
List of extraterrestrial orbiters
List of extraterrestrial orbiters is a listing of spacecraft that achieved an extraterrestrial orbit.
Sun
First artificial object on heliocentric orbit was Luna 1 (1959).
Mercury
Venus
Moon
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Minor planets and c ...
*
List of lunar probes
*
List of missions to Mars
This is a list of the 50 spacecraft missions (including unsuccessful ones) relating to the planet Mars, such as orbiters and rovers.
Missions
;Mission Type Legend:
Mars landing locations
There are a number of derelict orbiters around ...
*
Timeline of Solar System exploration
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:
*All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration (or were launched with that intention but failed), includ ...
References
External links
Interactive map of every successful moon landings to date
{{Future spaceflights
*
*
*
Missions to the Moon
As part of human exploration of the Moon, numerous space missions have been undertaken to study Earth's natural satellite. Of the Moon landings, Luna 2 of the Soviet Union was the first spacecraft to reach its surface successfully, intentionall ...