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Details of robotic and human spacecraft missions that have been sent to the Moon to explore the lunar surface and determine the Moon's origin.
Lunar Exploration Timeline
| 1959 |
|
| Luna 1 |
Jan 2, 1959 |
Flyby |
Instruments |
| Pioneer 4 |
Mar 3, 1959 |
Flyby |
Instruments |
| Luna 2 |
Sep 12, 1959 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Luna 3 |
Oct 4, 1959 |
Probe |
Instruments |
1961 |
| Ranger 1 |
Aug 23, 1961 |
Attempted Test Flight |
|
| Ranger 2 |
Nov 18, 1961 |
Attempted Test Flight |
|
1962 |
| Ranger 3 |
Jan 26, 1962 |
Attempted Impact |
|
| Ranger 4 |
Apr 23, 1962 |
Impact |
|
| Ranger 5 |
Oct 18, 1962 |
Attempted Impact |
|
1963 |
| Luna 4 |
Apr 2, 1963 |
Flyby |
Instruments |
1964 |
| Ranger 6 |
Jan 30, 1964 |
Impact |
|
| Ranger 7 |
Jul 28, 1964 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| 1965 |
| Ranger 8 |
Feb 17, 1965 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Ranger 9 |
Mar 21, 1965 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Luna 5 |
May 9, 1965 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Luna 6 |
Jun 8, 1965 |
Attempted Lander |
Instruments |
| Zond 3 |
Jul 18, 1965 |
Flyby |
Instruments |
| Luna 7 |
Oct 4, 1965 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Luna 8 |
Dec 3, 1965 |
Impact |
Instruments |
1966 |
| Luna 9 |
Jan 31, 1966 |
Lander |
Instruments |
| Luna 10 |
Mar 31, 1966 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 1 |
May 30, 1966 |
Lander |
Instruments |
| Lunar Orbiter 1 |
Aug 10, 1966 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Luna 11 |
Aug 24, 1966 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 2 |
Sep 20, 1966 |
Attempted Lander |
Instruments |
| Luna 12 |
Oct 22, 1966 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Lunar Orbiter 2 |
Nov 6, 1966 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Luna 13 |
Dec 21, 1966 |
Lander |
Instruments |
1967 |
| Lunar Orbiter 3 |
Feb 4, 1967 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 3 |
Apr 17, 1967 |
Lander |
Instruments |
| Lunar Orbiter 4 |
May 8, 1967 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 4 |
Jul 14, 1967 |
Attempted Lander |
Instruments |
| Lunar Orbiter 5 |
Aug 1, 1967 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 5 |
Sep 8, 1967 |
Lander |
Instruments |
| Surveyor 6 |
Nov 7, 1967 |
Lander |
Instruments |
1968 |
| Surveyor 7 |
Jan 7, 1968 |
Lander |
Instruments |
| Luna 14 |
Apr 7, 1968 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Zond 5 |
Sep 15, 1968 |
Return Probe |
Instruments |
| Apollo 7 |
Oct 11, 1968 |
|
| Zond 6 |
Nov 10, 1968 |
Return Probe |
Instruments |
| Apollo 8 |
Dec 21, 1968 |
Crewed Orbiter |
Instruments |
1969 |
| Apollo 9 |
March 3, 1969 |
|
| Apollo 10 |
May 18, 1969 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Luna 15 |
Jul 13, 1969 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Apollo 11 |
Jul 16, 1969 |
Crewed Lander |
Instruments |
| Zond 7 |
Aug 7, 1969 |
Return Probe |
Instruments |
| Apollo 12 |
Nov 14, 1969 |
Crewed Lander |
Instruments |
1970 |
| Apollo 13 |
Apr 11, 1970 |
Crewed Lander (aborted) |
Instruments |
| Luna 16 |
Sep 12, 1970 |
Sample Return |
Instruments |
| Zond 8 |
Oct 20, 1970 |
Return Probe |
Instruments |
| Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 |
Nov 10, 1970 |
Rover |
Instruments |
1971 |
| Apollo 14 |
Jan 31, 1971 |
Crewed Lander |
Instruments |
| Apollo 15 |
Jul 26, 1971 |
Crewed Lander |
Instruments |
| Luna 18 |
Sep 2, 1971 |
Impact |
Instruments |
| Luna 19 |
Sep 28, 1971 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
1972 |
| Luna 20 |
Feb 14, 1972 |
Sample Return |
Instruments |
| Apollo 16 |
Apr 16, 1972 |
Crewed Landing |
Instruments |
| Apollo 17 |
Dec 7, 1972 |
Crewed Landing |
Instruments |
1973 |
| Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 |
Jan 8, 1973 |
Rover |
Instruments |
1974 |
| Luna 22 |
Jun 2, 1974 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Luna 23 |
Oct 28, 1974 |
Lander |
Instruments |
1976 |
| Luna 24 |
Aug 14, 1976 |
Sample Return |
Instruments |
1990 |
| Hiten |
Jan 24, 1990 |
Flyby, Orbiter, and Impact |
Instruments |
1994 |
| Clementine |
Jan 25, 1994 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
1997 |
| AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 |
Dec 24, 1997 |
Lunar Flyby |
|
1998 |
| Lunar Prospector |
Jan 7, 1998 |
Orbiter and Impact |
Instruments |
2003 |
| SMART 1 |
Sep 27, 2003 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
2007 |
| Kaguya (SELENE) |
Sep 14, 2007 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Chang'e 1 |
Oct 24, 2007 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
2008 |
| Chandrayaan-1 |
Oct 22, 2008 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| Lunar-A |
Cancelled |
Orbiter and Penetrators |
|
2009 |
| LRO |
Jun 18, 2009 |
Orbiter |
Instruments |
| LCROSS |
Jun 18, 2009 |
Impact |
Instruments |
2010 |
| Chang'e 2 |
October 1, 2010 |
Orbiter |
| ARTEMIS |
2010 |
Orbiter |
2011 |
| GRAIL |
September 8, 2011 |
Orbiter |
2013 |
| Chang'e 3 |
|
Orbiter |
| LADEE |
May 2, 2013 |
Orbiter |
| |
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| 2014 |
|
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| Delta IV-Orion (EFT-1) |
September, 2014 |
Orbiter |
| |
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2017 |
| SLS-Orion (EM-1) |
2017 |
Orbiter |
| |
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| 2018 |
|
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Constellation Altair Lander
(cancelled) |
2018 |
Lander |
| Chandrayaan-2 |
2018 |
Orbiter and Lander |
| SELENE-2 |
2018 |
Orbiter and Lander with Rover |
| |
|
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| 2019 |
|
|
| SLS Orion (EM-1) |
2019 |
Orbiter |
| Luna 25 |
2019 |
Lander |
| Chang'e 5 |
2019 |
Lander |
| |
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| 2021 |
|
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| SELENE-3 |
2021 |
Orbiter and Lander with Rover plus sample return ascent vehicle |
| SLS-Orion (EM-2) |
2021 |
Orbiter |
| Luna 26 |
2021 |
Orbiter |
| |
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| 2022 |
|
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| Luna 27 |
2022 |
Lander |
| |
|
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| 2023 |
|
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| SLS Orion (EM-2) |
2023 |
Orbiter |
| |
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| 2026 |
|
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| Luna 28 |
2026 |
Lander |
| |
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| 2028 |
|
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| Luna 29 |
2028 |
Lander |
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