| Pioneer 1 |
U.S.A. |
Oct 1958 |
lunar orbit |
did not obtain lunar trajectory, reentered on 10/12/58 |
| Pioneer 2 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1958 |
lunar orbit |
did not achieve orbit |
| Pioneer 3 |
U.S.A. |
Dec 1958 |
lunar probe |
launch failure, reentered on 12/7/58 |
| Luna 1 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jan 1959 |
lunar impact |
first lunar flyby, failed to impact |
| Pioneer 4 |
U.S.A. |
Mar 1959 |
lunar probe |
passed within 37,300 mi. of the moon |
| Luna 2 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1959 |
lunar impact |
first lunar impact, impacted east of the Sea of Serenity area |
| Luna 3 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1959 |
lunar probe |
first photographs of the lunar farside |
| Pioneer P-3 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1959 |
lunar orbit |
launch failure, did not achieve orbit |
| Ranger 1 |
U.S.A. |
Aug 1961 |
lunar probe |
launch failure, did not escape Earth orbit, reentered on 8/30/61 |
| Ranger 2 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1961 |
lunar probe |
launch failure, did not escape Earth orbit, reentered on 11/20/61 |
| Ranger 3 |
U.S.A. |
Jan 1962 |
lunar landing |
launch failure, missed the moon by 22,862 mi. |
| Ranger 4 |
U.S.A. |
Apr 1962 |
lunar landing |
computer failed, no telemetry received, crashed on the lunar farside |
| Ranger 5 |
U.S.A. |
Oct 1962 |
lunar landing |
missed the moon by 450 mi. |
| Sputnik 25 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jan 1963 |
lunar probe |
unsuccessful lunar attempt |
| Luna 4 |
U.S.S.R. |
Apr 1963 |
lunar orbiter |
contact lost, missed the moon |
| Ranger 6 |
U.S.A. |
Jan / Feb 1964 |
lunar photography |
cameras failed, no data returned, impacted in the Sea of Tranquillity area |
| Ranger 7 |
U.S.A. |
Jul 1964 |
lunar photography |
transmitted first close-up photos of the moon, impacted in the Sea of Clouds area |
| Ranger 8 |
U.S.A. |
Feb 1965 |
lunar photography |
transmitted high-quality photos of the moon, impacted in the Sea of Tranquillity area |
| Ranger 9 |
U.S.A. |
Mar 1965 |
lunar photography |
transmitted high-quality photos of the moon, impacted in the Crater of Alphonsus |
| Luna 5 |
U.S.S.R. |
May 1965 |
lunar lander |
first soft-landing attempt, crashed in the Sea of Clouds area |
| Luna 6 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jun 1965 |
lunar lander |
engine failed, missed the moon |
| Zond 3 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jul 1965 |
lunar probe |
photographed lunar farside |
| Luna 7 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1965 |
lunar lander |
crashed in the Ocean of Storms area |
| Luna 8 |
U.S.S.R. |
Dec 1965 |
lunar lander |
crashed in the Ocean of Storms area |
| Luna 9 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jan / Feb 1966 |
lunar lander |
first lunar soft landing, first TV transmission from lunar surface, landed on in the Ocean of Storms area |
| Cosmos 111 |
U.S.S.R. |
Mar 1966 |
lunar probe |
unsuccessful lunar attempt |
| Luna 10 |
U.S.S.R. |
Mar 1966 |
lunar orbiter |
first lunar satellite, studied lunar surface radiation and magnetic field intensity, monitored strength and variation of lunar gravitation |
| Surveyor 1 |
U.S.A. |
May / Jun 1966 |
lunar lander |
first soft-landed robotic laboratory, landed in the Ocean of Storms area, returned high-quality images & selenological data |
| Lunar Orbiter 1 |
U.S.A. |
Aug 1966 |
lunar orbiter |
photographed over 2 million square miles of the MoonUs surface, impacted on the lunar far side on 10/29/66 |
| Luna 11 |
U.S.S.R. |
Aug 1966 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite |
| Surveyor 2 |
U.S.A |
Sept 1966 |
lunar lander |
crashed near the Crater Copernicus |
| Luna 12 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1966 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, transmitted large-scale pictures of the Sea of Rains and the Crater Aristarchus, tested electric motor for lunokhod's wheels |
| Lunar Orbiter 2 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1966 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, photographed landing sites, impacted on Moon on 10/11/67 |
| Luna 13 |
U.S.S.R. |
Dec 1966 |
lunar lander |
soft landed in the Ocean of Storms area, measured soil density and surface radioactivity |
| Lunar Orbiter 3 |
U.S.A. |
Feb 1967 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, photographed landing sites, provided gravitational field and lunar environment data, impacted on moon on 10/9/67 |
| Surveyor 3 |
U.S.A. |
Apr 1967 |
lunar lander |
soft-landed robotic laboratory, landed in the Ocean of Storms area, returned photographs and data on a soil sample |
| Lunar Orbiter 4 |
U.S.A. |
May 1967 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, provided the first pictures of the lunar south pole, impacted on the moon on 10/6/67 |
| Surveyor 4 |
U.S.A. |
Jul 1967 |
lunar lander |
radio contact lost 2 1/2 min. prior to landing, impacted in Sinus Medii area |
| Explorer 35 |
U.S.A. |
Jul 1967 |
lunar orbiter (Interplanetary Monitoring Platform 6) |
designed to use the moon as an anchor for probing interplanetary magnetic fields, plasma, and meteoroid fluxes |
| Lunar Orbiter 5 |
U.S.A. |
Aug 1967 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, impacted on moon on 1/31/68 |
| Surveyor 5 |
U.S.A |
Sept 1967 |
lunar lander |
soft-landed robotic laboratory, soft-landed in the Sea of Tranquillity |
| Surveyor 6 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1967 |
lunar lander |
soft-landed robotic laboratory, soft-landed in the Sinus Medii area |
| Surveyor 7 |
U.S.A. |
Jan 1968 |
lunar lander |
soft-landed robotic laboratory, landed near the crater Tycho |
| Luna 14 |
U.S.S.R. |
Apr 1968 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, studied gravitational field |
| Zond 5 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1968 |
circumlunar |
first lunar flyby and Earth return, returned to Earth on 9/21/68 |
| Zond 6 |
U.S.S.R. |
Nov 1968 |
circumlunar |
lunar flyby and Earth return, returned to Earth on 11/17/68 |
| Apollo 8 |
U.S.A. |
Dec 1968 |
piloted lunar orbital flight |
first humans to orbit the moon (10 orbits) |
| Apollo 10 |
U.S.A. |
May 1969 |
piloted lunar orbital flight |
first docking maneuvers in lunar orbit, tested all aspects of a piloted lunar landing |
| Luna 15 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jul 1969 |
lunar sample return |
crashed in the Sea of Crises area |
| Apollo 11 |
U.S.A. |
Jul 1969 |
piloted lunar landing |
first humans on the moon, landed in the Sea of Tranquillity area on 7/20/69, 2 astronauts deployed experiments and collected lunar samples during lunar EVA |
| Zond 7 |
U.S.S.R. |
Aug 1969 |
circumlunar |
lunar flyby and Earth return, returned to Earth on 8/14/69 |
| Cosmos 300 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1969 |
lunar probe |
unsuccessful lunar attempt, reentered 9/27/69 |
| Cosmos 305 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1969 |
lunar probe |
unsuccessful lunar attempt, reentered 10/24/69 |
| Luna 16 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1970 |
lunar sample return |
first robotic sample return, collected lunar samples in the Sea of Fertility area and returned to Earth on 9/24/70 |
| Apollo 12 |
U.S.A. |
Nov 1969 |
piloted lunar landing |
second group of humans on the moon, landed in the Ocean of Storms area on 11/19/69, 2 astronauts deployed experi-ments, collected lunar samples, and retrieved pieces of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft during lunar EVA |
| Apollo 13 |
U.S.A |
Apr 1970 |
piloted lunar landing |
aborted human landing attempt |
| Zond 8 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1970 |
circumlunar |
lunar flyby and Earth return, returned to Earth on 10/27/70 |
| Luna 17 |
U.S.S.R. |
Nov 1970 |
lunar rover (Lunokhod 1) |
first robotic rover, landed in the Sea of Rains area |
| Apollo 14 |
U.S.A. |
Jan / Feb 1971 |
piloted lunar landing |
third group of humans on the moon, landed in the Fra Mauro area on 2/5/71, 2 astronauts deployed experiments and collected lunar samples during lunar EVA |
| Apollo 15 |
U.S.A. |
Jul / Aug 1971 |
piloted lunar landing |
fourth group of humans on the moon, landed in the Hadley Rille area on 7/30/71, 2 astronauts deployed experiments and collected lunar samples during lunar EVA with lunar roving vehicle |
| Luna 18 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1971 |
lunar lander |
crashed in the Sea of Fertility area |
| Luna 19 |
U.S.S.R. |
Sept 1971 |
lunar orbiter |
lunar satellite, studied moonUs gravitational field |
| Luna 20 |
U.S.S.R. |
Feb 1972 |
lunar sample return |
second robotic sample return, collected samples in the Sea of Crises area and returned to Earth on 2/25/72 |
| Apollo 16 |
U.S.A. |
Apr 1972 |
piloted lunar landing |
fifth group of humans on the moon, landed in the Descartes area on 4/20/72, 2 astronauts deployed experiments and collected lunar samples during lunar EVA with lunar roving vehicle |
| Apollo 17 |
U.S.A. |
Dec 1972 |
piloted lunar landing |
sixth group of humans on the moon, landed in the Taurus-Littrow area on 12/11/72, 2 astronauts deployed experiments and collected lunar samples during lunar EVA with lunar roving vehicle |
| Luna 21 |
U.S.S.R. |
Jan 1973 |
lunar rover |
robotic lunar rover, landed near the Sea of Serenity area |
| Luna 22 |
U.S.S.R. |
May/Jun 1974 |
lunar sample return |
lunar satellite |
| Luna 23 |
U.S.S.R. |
Oct 1974 |
lunar sample return |
landed on the southern part of the Sea of Crises, sampling device malfunctioned, no samples returned |
| Luna 24 |
U.S.S.R. |
Aug 1976 |
lunar sample return |
third robotic sample return, collected samples in the Sea of Crises area and returned to Earth |
| Hiten (Muses-A) |
Japan |
Jan 1990 |
lunar satellite |
studied gravity's effect on satellites, crashed on the moon on 4/11/93 |
| Clementine |
U.S.A. |
Jan 1994 |
lunar satellite |
photographed the lunar surface |
| Lunar Prospector |
U.S.A. |
Jan 1998 |
lunar polar orbiter |
determined whether water ice exists on the Moon near its poles and mapped the elemental composition of the lunar crust. The controlled crash of the spacecraft into a crater on the Moon on 07/31/99 produced no observable signature of water. |
Sources: Grant Heikan, David Vaniman, and Bevan M. French; Lunar Sourcebook: A User's Guide to the Moon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) p. 7; NASA, NASA Pocket Statistics (Washington, D.C.: NASA, 1994) pp. B72 - B78, B94 - B100; "Muses-A Ends Three-Year Mission, Crashes on Moon," Space News (Apr. 19-25, 1993) p. 17; Andrew Wilson, Solar System Log (London: JaneUs, 1987).
