In modern human history, there have been 150 missions to the Moon (including unsuccessful ones). These include flights, impact probes, orbiters, landers, rovers and manned missions. The United States and the Soviet Union began planning launches to the Moon in 1958. The first 10 attempts failed completely or partially, and only on September 12, 1959, did the Soviet Union make the first successful impact launch.
We invite you to learn about the most interesting and significant missions:
| Mission | Spacecraft | Launch Date | Launch Vehicle | Country | Mission Type | Result | |
| 1 | Luna 2 | Luna 2 | September 12, 1959 | Luna |
|
Impact component | Successfully collided at 21:02 on September 14, 1959 |
| 2 | Luna 3 | Luna 3 | October 04, 1959 | Luna |
|
Circumlunar flight | The first images of the far side of the Moon were transmitted |
| 3 | Luna 9 | Luna 9 | January 31, 1966 | Molniya M |
|
Lander | The first spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon |
| 4 | Luna 10 | Luna 10 | March 31, 1966 | Molniya M |
|
Orbiter | The first spacecraft to make a circumlunar flight |
| 5 | Surveyor 3 | Surveyor 3 | April 17, 1967 | Atlas LV-3C Centaur-D |
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Lander | It landed and operated until May 03. In 1969, it was visited by the astronauts of Apollo 12, for returning to Earth |
| 6 | Zond 5 | Zond 5 | September 14, 1968 | D |
|
Circumlunar flight | On board, there were two turtles and other life forms to be tested for scheduled manned missions. It made a maximum approach of 1,950 km (1,210 miles) and circled the Moon before returning to Earth. It landed in the Indian Ocean and became the first lunar spacecraft to be successfully returned to the Earth, and to be carrying for the first time Earth life forms to travel to and around the Moon. |
| 7 | Apollo 8 | Apollo 8 | December 21, 1968 | Saturn V |
|
Manned orbiter | The first manned mission to the Moon. The spacecraft entered orbit around the Moon with a four-minute circumlunar flight. It made ten orbits around the Moon before returning to Earth with a faulty engine. It landed in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 8 | Apollo 10 | Apollo 10 | May 18, 1969 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | General rehearsal of Apollo 11. The lunar module with two astronauts on board descended to a distance of 14.326 km (8.902 miles) above the Moon surface |
| Snoopy Lunar Module | Orbiter | ||||||
| 9 | Apollo 11 | Apollo 11 | July 16, 1969 | Saturn V |
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Orbiter | The first crew landing on the Moon. The Eagle Lunar Module landed on July 20, 1969 |
| Eagle Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| 10 | Apollo 12 | Apollo 12 | November 14, 1969 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | The second crew landing on the Moon |
| Intrepid Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| 11 | Apollo 13 | Apollo 13 | April 11, 1970 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | The Moon landing was interrupted due to explosion of the oxygen tank in the service module on the way to the Moon; flew past the Moon (free return trajectory) and returned the crew safely to Earth. |
| Aquarius Lunar Module | Rescue Mission | ||||||
| 12 | Luna 16 | Luna 16 | September 12, 1970 | D |
|
Lander | The first robotic sampling mission |
| Luna 16 Return Spacecraft | Sample return | ||||||
| 13 | Luna 17 | Luna 17 | November 10, 1970 | D |
|
Lander | Lunokhod 1 was deployed on the Moon |
| Lunokhod 1 | Lunar Rover | ||||||
| 14 | Apollo 14 | Apollo 14 | January 31, 1971 | Saturn V |
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Orbiter | The third crew landing on the Moon |
| Antares Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| 15 | Apollo 15 | Apollo 15 | July 26, 1971 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | The forth crew landing on the Moon, and the first use of the Lunar Vehicle |
| Falcon Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| Lunar Roving Vehicle | Lunar Rover | ||||||
| 16 | Apollo 16 | Apollo 16 | April 16, 1972 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | The fifth crew landing on the Moon |
| Orion Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| Lunar Roving Vehicle | Lunar Rover | ||||||
| 17 | Apollo 17 | Apollo 17 | December 07, 1972 | Saturn V |
|
Orbiter | The sixth and the last crew landing on the Moon, and the last use of the Lunar Vehicle. |
| Challenger Lunar Module | Rover | ||||||
| Lunar Roving Vehicle | Lunar Rover | ||||||
| 18 | Chandrayaan 1 | Chandrayaan 1 | October 22, 2008 | PSLV-XLC11 |
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Orbiter | The mission was completed successfully The orbit lasted 312 days, and the mission achieved most of its intended goals. It was discontinued in 2009. Water ice was discovered on the Moon. A Moon Impact probe was launched from the orbiter. It successfully collided with the Shackleton lunar crater, throwing out underground debris, which the orbiter was able to analyze for presence of water and ice. Due to this mission, India became the first to reach the south pole of the Moon and the 5th country to reach the Moon surface. |
| Zond | Impact component | ||||||
| 19 | Chang’e 4 | Chang’e 4 | December 07,2018 | Long March 3B |
|
Lander | The first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the far side of the Moon (the South Pole is the Aitken Basin). It landed on January 03, 2019, and deployed the Lunar Rover. It germinated cotton seeds in the lander during a biological experiment. These are the first plants to germinate on the Moon. |
| Yutu 2 | Lunar Rover | ||||||
| 20 | Danuri | Danuri | August 04, 2022 | Falcon 9 |
|
Orbiter | Lunar orbiter from the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), South Korea. The mission is over yet. The orbiter will be tasked with surveying lunar resources, such as water ice, uranium, helium-3, silicon and aluminum, and making a topographic map to facilitate selecting future sites for landing on the Moon. |
| 21 | Artemis 1 | Orion MPCV CM-002 | November 16, 2022 | SLS Block 1 |
|
Orbiter | Unmanned test of a remote retrograde orbit |
| 22 | Chandrayaan-3 | Chandrayaan-3 | July 14, 2023 | LVM3 |
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Orbiter | The first spacecraft to make a soft landing near the South Pole of the Moon. Later, during long-term operations, the module returned to Earth orbit. |
| Vikram Lander | Lander | ||||||
| Pragyan Lunar Rover | Lunar Rover | ||||||
