Dr. Wernher von Braun, John Casani and Dr. James Van Allen inspect components of the Pioneer IV spacecraft on March 1, 1959.
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
Pioneer 0 USA
Aug. 17, 1958
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
Sept. 23, 1958
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Pioneer 1 USA
Oct. 11, 1958
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
Oct. 11, 1958
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Pioneer 2 USA
Nov. 8, 1958
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
Dec. 4, 1958
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Pioneer 3 USA
Dec. 7, 1958
N/A
Flyby
Unsuccessful
Luna 1 USSR
Jan. 2, 1959
Jan. 4, 1959
Impact
Partial Success; first Moon flyby
Pioneer 4 USA
March 3, 1959
Mar. 4., 1959
Flyby
Partial Sucess
Unnamed Luna USSR
June 18, 1959
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Luna 2 USSR
Sept. 12, 1959
Sept. 13, 1959
Impact
Successful; first spacecraft to impact the Moon's surface
Pioneer P-1
USA
Sept. 24, 1959
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Luna 3 USSR
Oct. 4, 1959
Oct. 6, 1959
Flyby
Successful; first pictures of the lunar farside
Pioneer P-3 USA
Nov. 26, 1959
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Apollo 12 commander Charles Conrad Jr. examines the robotic Surveyor 3 spacecraft during his second extravehicular activity (EVA) on the Moon on 20 November 1969.
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
Unnamed Luna USSR
April 15, 1960
N/A
Flyby
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna
USSR
April 16, 1960
N/A
Flyby
Unsuccessful
Pioneer P-30 USA
Sep. 25, 1960
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Pioneer P-31 USA
Dec. 15. 1960
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Ranger 3 USA
Jan. 26, 1962
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Ranger 4 USA
April 26, 1962
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Ranger 5 USA
Oct. 21, 1962
N/A
Impact
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
Jan. 4, 1963
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
Feb. 3, 1963
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Luna 4 USSR
April 2, 1963
April 6, 1963
Lander
Unsuccessful; flew past Moon.
Ranger 6 USA
Jan. 30, 1964
Feb. 2, 1965
Impact
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
March 21, 1964
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Unnamed Luna USSR
April 20, 1964
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Ranger 7 USA
July 28, 1964
July 31, 1964
Impact
Successful; first U.S. close-up pictures of the Moon
Ranger 8 USA
Feb. 17, 1965
Feb. 20, 1965
Impact
Successful
Kosmos 60 USSR
March 12, 1965
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Ranger 9 USA
March 21, 1965
March 24, 1965
Impact
Successful
Unnamed Luna USSR
April 10, 1965
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Luna 5 USSR
May 9, 1965
May 12, 1965
Lander
Unsuccessful; impacted Moon
Luna 6 USSR
June 8, 1965
June 11, 1965
Lander
Unsuccessful; flyby
Zond 3 USSR
July 18, 1965
July 20, 1965
Flyby
Successful
Luna 7 USSR
Oct. 4, 1965
Oct. 7, 1965
Lander
Unsuccessful; impacted Moon
Luna 8 USSR
Dec. 3, 1965
Dec. 6, 1965
Lander
Unsuccessful; impacted Moon
Luna 9 USSR
Jan. 31, 1966
Feb. 3, 1966
Lander
Successful; first lunar soft landing and first picture from the lunar surface
Kosmos 111 USSR
March 1, 1966
N/A
Orbiter
Unsuccessful
Luna 10 USSR
March 31, 1966
April 3, 1966
Orbiter
Successful; first lunar orbiter
Surveyor 1 USA
May 30, 1966
June 2, 1966
Lander
Successful; first U.S. Moon landing and first U.S. photo from the lunar surface .
Lunar Orbiter 1 USA
Aug. 10, 1966
Aug. 14, 1966
Orbiter
Successful
Luna 11 USSR
Aug. 24, 1966
Aug. 27, 1966
Orbiter
Successful
Surveyor 2 USA
Sept. 20, 1966
Sept. 23, 1966
Lander
Unsuccessful; impacted Moon
Luna 12 USSR
Oct. 22, 1966
Oct. 25, 1966
Orbiter
Successful
Lunar Orbiter 2 USA
Nov. 6, 1966
Nov. 10, 1966
Orbiter
Successful
Luna 13 USSR
Dec. 21, 1966
Dec. 24, 1966
Lander
Successful
Lunar Orbiter 3 USA
Feb. 5, 1967
Feb. 8, 1967
Orbiter
Partial success; camera failure
Surveyor 3 USA
April 17, 1967
April 20, 1967
Lander
Successful; visited on the Moon by Apollo 12 crew
Lunar Orbiter 4 USA
May 4, 1967
May 8, 1967
Orbiter
Partial success; camera failure
Surveyor 4 USA
July 14, 1967
July 17, 1967
Lander
Unsuccessful
Lunar Orbiter 5 USA
Aug. 1, 1967
Aug. 5, 1967
Orbiter
Successful
Surveyor 5 USA
Sept. 8, 1967
Sept. 11, 1967
Lander
Successful
Surveyor 6 USA
Nov. 7, 1967
Nov. 10, 1967
Lander
Successful
Surveyor 7 USA
Jan. 7, 1968
Jan. 10, 1968
Lander
Successful
Unnamed Luna
USSR
Feb. 7, 1968
N/A
Lander
Unsuccessful
Luna 14 USSR
April 7, 1968
April 10, 1968
Orbiter
Successful
Zond 5 USSR
Sept. 15, 1968
Sept. 18, 1968
Flyby
Successful; f irst living creatures to fly past the Moon
Zond 6 USSR
Nov. 10, 1968
Nov. 14, 1968
Flyby
Partial success; animal cargo lost on landing.
Apollo 8 USA
Dec. 21, 1968
Dec. 24, 1968
Orbiter
Success; first humans to orbit the Moon
Unnamed Luna USSR
Feb. 19, 1969
N/A
Rover
Unsuccessful; first attempted Moon rover
Apollo 10 USA
May 18, 1969
May 21, 1969
Orbiter
Successful; lander test in lunar orbit
Unnamed Luna USSR
June 14, 1969
N/A
Sample Return
Unsuccessful
Luna 15 USSR
July 13, 1969
July 18, 1969
Orbiter/Sample Return
Partial success; orbiter successful, sample return crashed on the Moon
Apollo 11 USA
July 16, 1969
July 20, 1969
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful; first humans to land on the Moon
Zond 7 USSR
Aug. 7, 1969
Aug. 11, 1969
Flyby
Successful
Kosmos 300 USSR
Sept. 23, 1969
N/A
Sample Return
Unsuccessful
Kosmos 305 USSR
Oct. 22, 1969
N/A
Sample Return
Unsuccessful
Apollo 12 USA
Nov. 14, 1969
Nov. 17,1969
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful; rendezvous with Surveyor 3 on the surface of the moon
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 collects lunar rake samples at the Taurus-Littrow landing site.
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
Apollo 13 USA
4/11/1970
4/15/1970
Orbiter/Sample Return
Unsuccessful; crew returned safely to Earth.
Unnamed Luna USSR
2/6/1970
N/A
Sample Return
Unsuccessful
Luna 16 USSR
9/12/1970
9/20/1970
Sample Return
Successful; first robotic sample return from beyond Earth .
Zond 8 USSR
10/20/1970
10/24/1970
Flyby
Successful
Luna 17 USSR
11/10/1970
11/17/1970
Lander
Successful; delivered Lunokhod 1 rover to the surface of the Moon
Lunokhod 1 USSR
11/10/1970
11/17/1970
Rover
Successful; first robotic rover to explore the surface of a world beyond Earth
Apollo 14 USA
1/31/1971
2/4/1971
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful
Apollo 15 USA
7/26/1971
7/29/1971
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful
PFS-1 USA
7/26/1971
8/4/1971
Orbiter
Successful; deployed in lunar orbit by Apollo 15 crew
Luna 18 USSR
9/2/1971
9/11/1971
Sample Return
Unsuccessful
Luna 19 USSR
9/28/1971
10/3/1971
Orbiter
Successful
Luna 20 USSR
2/14/1972
2/21/1972
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful
Apollo 16 USA
4/16/1972
4/19/1972
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful
PFS-2 USA
4/16/1972
4/24/1972
Orbiter
Partial Success; orbit decayed prematurely
Apollo 17 USA
12/7/1972
12/10/1972
Orbiter/Sample Return
Successful; first scientist on the Moon and final Apollo mission
Luna 21 USSR
1/8/1973
1/15/1973
Orbiter
Successful; delivered Lunokhod 2 rover to the surface of the Moon
Lunokhod 2 USSR
1/8/1973
1/15/1973
Rover
Successful; longest-lived rover on the Moon, drove 24 miles (39 kilometers)
Mariner 10 USA
11/3/1973
11/5/1973
Flyby
Successful; studied Moon while en route to Mercury
Luna 22 USSR
5/29/1974
6/2/1974
Orbiter
Successful
Luna 23 USSR
10/28/1974
11/6/1974
Sample Return
Partial Success
Luna 24 USSR
8/9/1976
8/18/1976
Sample Return
Successful
No lunar missions were launched in this decade.
It was a nearly cloudless day over Africa in 1994 when Clementine waved Earthward as it crested the northern lunar pole on its 102nd orbit.
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
Hiten Japan
1/24/1990
3/19/1990
Orbiter/Impact
Successful; first Japanese Moon mission
Clementine USA
1/25/1994
2/19/1994
Orbiter
Successful
Lunar Prospector USA
1/7/1998
1//11/1998
Orbiter/Impact
Successful
Tycho crater's central peak complex, shown here, is about 9.3 miles (15 km) wide, left to right (southeast to northwest in this view).
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
SMART-1 Europe
9/27/2003
11/15/2004
Orbiter/Impact
Successful; first European Moon mission
SELENE (Kaguya) Japan
9/14/2007
10/3/2007
Orbiter/Impact
Successful
Chang'e 1 China
10/24/2007
11/5/2007
Orbiter/impactor
Successful; first Chinese Moon mission
Chandrayaan-1 India
10/22/2008
11/12/2008
Orbiter
Successful
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) USA
6/18/2009
6/23/2009
Orbiter
(Active Mission) Successful; extended mission in progress
LCROSS USA
6/18/2009
10/9/2009
Impact
Successful; impact of LRO upper stages
GRAIL Gravity map of the Moon.
Name
Nation
Launch
Arrival
Type
Results
Chang'e 2 China
10/1/2010
10/5/2010
Orbiter
Successful
ARTEMIS USA 2010 2011 Orbiters (Active Mission) Successful; twin spacecraft on an extended lunar mission after successful Earth observartions
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) USA
9/10/2011
1/1/2012
Orbiters
Successful; twin spacecraft
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) USA
9/7/2013
10/6/2013
Orbiter
Successful
Chang'e 3 China 12/6/2013 12/14/2013 Lander (Active Mission) Successful; delivered Yutu rover to lunar surface
Yutu China
12/6/2013
12/14/2013
Rover
Successful; first non-Soviet rover on the Moon
Chang'e 5-Test Vehicle China
10/23/2014
10/27/2014
Flyby
Successful
Queqiao China
5/20/2018
Orbiter
Successful; lunar relay satellite
Chang'e 4 and Yutu 2 China
12/7/2018
01/03/2019
Lander, Rover
Successful; first lunar farside landing
Beresheet Israel
2/22/2019
4/11/2019
Lander
Unsuccessful; first lunar landing attempt by a private company
India
7/22/2019
N/A
Orbiter
Successful
Chang'e 5
China
11/23/2020
12/1/2020
Sample Return
Successful; arrived back on Earth on 12/16/2020 (dates in UTC)
