Lunar Geology

Lunar Exploration

Viewing the Moon from Earth

The Moon in Culture and History

Explore the Moon

Timeline of Exploration


Mission Dates

Humans have always wondered about our nearest neighbor in the solar system. Since 1959, over 71 different spacecraft have orbited, impacted, flown by, or landed on the Moon. The knowledge gained from lunar exploration helps us understand other objects in the universe.

1959

  • Luna 1 – Jan 2, 1959 – Flyby. Passed over the Moon at 5000-6000 kilometers on 1/4/59.
  • Pioneer 4 – Mar 3, 1959 – Flyby
  • Luna 2 – Sep 12, 1959 – Impact. Impacted Moon 9/13/59 at 22:02:04 UT in Palus Putredinis, 29.10°N lat., 0.0° long.
  • Luna 3 – Oct 4, 1959 – Probe. Photographed the farside of the Moon on 10/7/59.

1960

1961

  • Ranger 1 – Aug 23, 1961 – Attempted Test Flight. Failed to leave Earth parking orbit.
  • Ranger 2 – Nov 18, 1961 – Attempted Test Flight. Failed to leave Earth parking orbit.

1962

  • Ranger 3 – Jan 26, 1962 – Attempted Impact. Earth contact lost, missed the Moon by ~36,800 km.
  • Ranger 4 – Apr 23, 1962 – Impact. Sequencer failed, impacted the Moon 26 April 1962.
  • Ranger 5 – Oct 18, 1962 – Attempted Impact. Sequencer failed, impacted the Moon 26 April 1962.

1963

  • Luna 4 – Apr 2, 1963 – Flyby. Luna 4 missed the Moon by about 8400 km at 13:25 UT on 5 April 1963 and entered a 89 250 × 694 000 km equatorial Earth orbit.

1964

  • Ranger 6 – Jan 30, 1964 – Impact. Cameras failed, impacted the Moon 2 February 1964.
  • Ranger 7 – Jul 28, 1964 – Impact. Impacted Moon 31 July 1964 at 13:25:49 UT at Latitude 10.70 S, Longitude 339.33 E – Mare Cognitum (Sea That Has Become Known).

1965

  • Ranger 8 – Feb 17, 1965 – Impact. Impacted Moon 20 February 1965 at 09:57:37 UT at Latitude 2.71 N, Longitude 24.81 E – Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)
  • Ranger 9 – Mar 21, 1965 – Impact. Impacted Moon 24 March 1965 at 14:08:20 UT at Latitude 12.91 S, Longitude 357.62 E – Alphonsus crater
  • Luna 5 – May 9, 1965 – Impact. After a variety of systems problems, Luna 5 impacted the moon in the Sea of Clouds.
  • Luna 6 – Jun 8, 1965 – Attempted Lander. Mission failed due to rocket error and is presumed to be in a heleocentric orbit.
  • Zond 3 – Jul 18, 1965 – Flyby. Continued into heliocentric orbit.
  • Luna 7 – Oct 4, 1965 – Impact. Mission failed due to rocket error and impacted the lunar surface at 9 N, 49 W in the Sea of Storms on 7 October 1965 at 22:08:24 UT.
  • Luna 8 – Dec 3, 1965 – Impact. Mission failed due to punctured airbag and impacted the lunar surface at 9.1 N, 63.3 W in the Sea of Storms at 21:51:30 UT on 6 December 1965.

1966

  • Luna 9 – Jan 31, 1966 – Lander. Landed on Moon 2/3/66 at 18:44:52 UT in Oceanus Procellarum, 7.08°N lat., 295.63°E long.
  • Luna 10 – Mar 31, 1966 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit on 4/3/66.
  • Surveyor 1 – May 30, 1966 – Lander. Landed 2 June, 1966, 06:17:37 UT in Flamsteed P (2.45°S latitude, 316.79°E longitude).
  • Lunar Orbiter 1 – Aug 10, 1966 – Orbiter. Apollo landing site survey mission. Imaged Moon: 18–29 August 1966.
  • Luna 11 – Aug 24, 1966 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit on 8/28/66.
  • Surveyor 2 – Sep 20, 1966 – Attempted Lander. Mission failed due to an engine failing to ignite.
  • Luna 12 – Oct 22, 1966 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit on 10/25/66 and returned images.
  • Lunar Orbiter 2 – Nov 6, 1966 – Orbiter. Apollo landing site survey mission. Imaged Moon: Imaged Moon: 18-25 November 1966.
  • Luna 13 – Dec 21, 1966 – Lander. Landed on Moon 12/24/66 at 18:01:00 UT in Oceanus Procellarum, 18.87°N lat., 297.95°E long.

1967

  • Lunar Orbiter 3 – Feb 4, 1967 – Orbiter. Imaged Moon: 15-23 February 1967.
  • Surveyor 3 – Apr 17, 1967 – Lander. Landed on 20 April, 1967, 00:04:53 UT in Oceanus Procellarum (2.94°S latitude, 336.66°E longitude)
  • Lunar Orbiter 4 – May 8, 1967 – Orbiter. Lunar mapping mission. Imaged Moon: 11-26 May 1967.
  • Surveyor 4 – Jul 14, 1967 – Attempted Lander. Experienced radio signal loss while landing in Sinus Medii.
  • Lunar Orbiter 5 – Aug 1, 1967 – Orbiter. Lunar mapping and high-resolution survey mission. Imaged Moon: 6-18 August 1967.
  • Surveyor 5 – Sep 8, 1967 – Lander. Landed on 11 September, 1967, 00:46:44 UT in Mare Tranquillitatus (1.41°N latitude, 23.18°E longitude).
  • Surveyor 6 – Nov 7, 1967 – Lander. Landed on 10 November, 1967, 01:01:06 UT in Sinus Medii (0.46°N latitude, 358.63°E longitude).

1968

  • Surveyor 7 – Jan 7, 1968 – Lander. Landed on 10 January 1968, 01:05:36 UT in Tycho Crater North Rim (41.01°S latitude, 348.59°E longitude).
  • Luna 14 – Apr 7, 1968 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit on 4/10/68.
  • Zond 5 – Sep 15, 1968 – Return Probe. Returned to Earth 9/21/68.
  • Zond 6 – Nov 10, 1968 – Return Probe. Returned to Earth 11/17/68
  • Apollo 8 – Dec 21, 1968 – Crewed Orbiter. The Apollo 8 mission took 7 days and included 10 orbits around the Moon.

1969

  • Apollo 10 – May 18, 1969 – Orbiter. This was the second Apollo mission to orbit the Moon, and the first to travel to the Moon with the full Apollo spacecraft, consisting of the Command and Service Module (CSM-106, “Charlie Brown”) and the Lunar Module (LM-4, “Snoopy”).
  • Luna 15 – Jul 13, 1969 – Impact. Crashed on Moon 7/21/69 at 15:51 UT in Mare Crisium,17°N lat., 60°W long. Believed to have been an attempted sample-return mission, similar to Luna 16, 20, and 24.
  • Apollo 11 - Jul 16, 1969 – Crewed Landing. The first manned spacecraft landing on the Moon was at 3:17 p.m. EST on July 20, 1969, when the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, the Eagle, landed in Mare Tranquillitatis, located at 0°4’5"N latitude, 23°42’28"E longitude.
  • Zond 7 – Aug 7, 1969 – Return Probe. Returned to Earth 8/14/69.
  • Apollo 12 – Nov 14, 1969 – Crewed Landing. Landed on November 19, 1969, in Oceanus Procellarum at 3°11’51" south latitude and 23°23’8" west longitude.

1970

  • Apollo 13 – Apr 11, 1970 – Crewed Landing (aborted). An explosion of one of the oxygen tanks and resulting damage to other systems resulted in the mission being aborted before the planned lunar landing could take place.
  • Luna 16 – Sep 12, 1970 – Sample Return. Landed on Moon 9/20/70 at 05:18:00 UT in Mare Fecunditatis, 0.68°S lat., 56.30°E long.
  • Zond 8 – Oct 20, 1970 – Return Probe. Returned to Earth 10/27/70.
  • Luna 17 + Lunokhod 1 – Nov 10, 1970 – Rover. Landed on Moon 11/17/70 at 03:47:00 UT in Mare Imbrium, 38.28°N lat., 325.00°E long.

1971

  • Apollo 14 - Jan 31, 1971 – Crewed Landing. On 5 February 1971 two astronauts (Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. and LM pilot Edgar D. Mitchell) landed near Fra Mauro crater on the Moon in the Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM pilot Stuart A. Roosa) continued in lunar orbit.
  • Apollo 15 – Jul 26, 1971 – Crewed Landing. On 30 July 1971 two astronauts (Apollo 15 Commander David R. Scott and LM pilot James B. Irwin) landed in the Hadley Rille/Apennines region of the Moon in the Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM pilot Alfred M. Worden) continued in lunar orbit.
  • Luna 18 – Sep 2, 1971 – Impact. Hit the Moon on September 11, 1971, at 3 degrees 34 minutes N, 56 degrees 30 minutes E (selenographic coordinates) in a rugged mountainous terrain.
  • Luna 19 – Sep 28, 1971 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit on 10/3/71 and returned images.

1972

  • Luna 20 – Feb 14, 1972 – Sample Return. Landed on Moon 2/21/72 at 19:19:00 UT in Mare Fecunditatis, 3.57°N lat., 56.50°E long. Lunar sample return to Earth 2/25/72.
  • Apollo 16 – Apr 16, 1972 – Crewed Landing. On 21 April 1972 two astronauts (Apollo 16 Commander John W. Young and LM pilot Charles M. Duke, Jr.) landed in the Descartes region of the Moon in the Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM pilot Thomas K. Mattingly, II) continued in lunar orbit.
  • Apollo 17 - Dec 7, 1972 – Crewed Landing. On 11 December 1972 two astronauts (Commander Eugene A. Cernan and LM pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, the first scientist on the Moon) landed in the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon in the Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM pilot Ronald E. Evans) continued in lunar orbit.

1973

  • Luna 21 / Lunokhod 2 – Jan 8, 1973 – Rover. Landed on Moon 1/15/73 at 23:35:00 UT and Mare Serenitatis, 25.51°N lat., 30.38°E long.

1974

  • Luna 22 – Jun 2, 1974 – Orbiter. Entered lunar orbit around 6/3/74 and returned images.
  • Luna 23 – Oct 28, 1974 – Lander. The mission was damaged during landing in Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises).

1975
1976

  • Luna 24 – Aug 14, 1976 – Sample Return. Landed on Moon 8/18/76 at 02:00:00 UT in Mare Crisium, 12.25°N lat., 62.20°E long.

1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990

  • Hiten – Jan 24, 1990 – Flyby and Orbiter. Hiten (originally called Muses-A) was an ISAS (Japanese Space Agency) Earth orbiting satellite designed primarily to test and verify technologies for future lunar and planetary missions.

1991
1992
1993

1994

  • Clementine – Jan 25, 1994 – Orbiter. Observations included imaging at various wavelengths including ultraviolet and infrared, laser ranging altimetry, and charged particle measurements.

1995
1996

1997

  • AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 - Dec 24, 1997 – Lunar Flyby. A Chinese geosynchronous communications satellite that did a lunar flyby prior to entering its final orbit.

1998

  • Lunar Prospector - Jan 7, 1998 – Orbiter. This mission mapped the surface composition of the moon.

1999
2000
2001
2002

2003

  • SMART 1 - Sep 27, 2003 – Lunar Orbiter. It travelled to the Moon using solar-electric propulsion and carrying a battery of miniaturized instruments.

2004
2005
2006

2007

2008

  • Chandrayaan-1 - Oct 22, 2008 – Lunar Orbiter. An Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) mission designed to orbit the Moon over a two year period with the objectives of upgrading and testing India’s technological capabilities in space and returning scientific information on the lunar surface.

2009

  • Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS – June 17, 2009 – Lunar Orbiter and Impactor. The first mission of NASA’s Robotic Lunar Exploration Program, is designed to map the surface of the Moon and characterize future landing sites in terms of terrain roughness, usable resources, and radiation environment with the ultimate goal of facilitating the return of humans to the Moon.

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