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the moon landing was fake.
{{about|the general topic|the first manned Moon landing|Apollo 11|and|Apollo program|other uses|Moon landing (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Race to the Moon|the Cold War topic|Space Race}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
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{{legend2|#FA0000|border=1px solid #940000|] (USSR)}}<br>
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: Dates are landing dates in ]. Except for the Apollo program, all soft landings were unmanned.
* ] was the first man-made object to reach the surface of the Moon (bottom-left).
* Still frame from a video transmission, taken moments before ] became the first human to step onto the surface of the Moon, at 02:56 UTC on 21 July 1969. An estimated 500&nbsp;million people worldwide watched this event, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manned Space Chronology: Apollo_11|url=http://www.spaceline.org/flightchron/apollo11.html| publisher=spaceline.org|accessdate=6 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title= Apollo Anniversary: Moon Landing "Inspired World"|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0714_040714_moonlanding.html| work=National Geographic|accessdate=6 February 2008}}</ref>
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A '''Moon landing''' is the arrival of a ] on the surface of the ]. This includes both manned and unmanned (robotic) missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the ]'s ] mission, on 13 September 1959.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1959-014A | title = Luna 2 | publisher = NASA–NSSDC}}</ref>

The United States' ] was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969.<ref>.</ref> There have been ] (between 1969 and 1972) and numerous unmanned landings, with no ] happening from 22 August 1976 until 14 December 2013.

To date, the ] is the only country to have successfully conducted manned missions to the Moon, with the last departing the lunar surface in December 1972.

== Unmanned landings ==
After the unsuccessful attempt by the ] to land on the moon in 1959, the ] performed the first hard (unpowered) moon landing later that same year with the ] spacecraft, a feat the U.S. duplicated in 1962 with ]. Since then, twelve Soviet and U.S. spacecraft have used braking rockets to make ] and perform scientific operations on the lunar surface, between 1966 and 1976. In 1966 the USSR accomplished the first soft landings and took the first pictures from the lunar surface during the ] and ] missions. The U.S. followed with five unmanned ] soft landings.

The Soviet Union achieved the first unmanned lunar soil ] with the ] probe on 24 September 1970. This was followed by ] and ] in 1972 and 1976, respectively. Following the failure at launch in 1969 of the first ], ], the ] and ] were successful unmanned ] missions in 1970 and 1973.

Many missions were failures at launch. In addition, several unmanned landing missions achieved the Lunar surface but were unsuccessful, including: ], ], and ] all crashed on landing; and the U.S. ] lost all radio contact only moments before its landing.

More recently, other nations have crashed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon at speeds of around {{convert|8000|km/h}}, often at precise, planned locations. These have generally been end-of-life lunar orbiters that, because of system degradations, could no longer overcome ] from lunar ]s ("masscons") to maintain their orbit. Japan's lunar orbiter ] impacted the Moon's surface on 10 April 1993. The ] performed a controlled crash impact with their orbiter ] on 3 September 2006.

] (ISRO) performed a controlled crash impact with its ] (MIP) on 14 November 2008. The MIP was an ejected probe from the Indian ] lunar orbiter and performed ] experiments during its descent to the lunar surface.

The Chinese lunar orbiter ] executed a controlled crash onto the surface of the Moon on 1 March 2009. The rover mission ] was launched on 1 December 2013 and soft-landed on 14 December.

== Manned landings ==
] window shortly after landing]]
A total of twelve men have landed on the Moon. This was accomplished with two US pilot-astronauts flying a ] on each of six ] missions across a 41-month period starting on 20 July 1969 UTC, with ] and ] on ], and ending on 14 December 1972 UTC with ] and ] on ]. Cernan was the last to step off the lunar surface.

All Apollo lunar missions had a third crew member who remained on board the ]. The last three missions had a ] for increased mobility.

== Scientific background ==
In order to go to the Moon, a spacecraft must first leave the ] of the Earth. The only practical way of accomplishing this currently is with a ]. Unlike other airborne vehicles such as ] or ], a rocket is the only known form of propulsion which can continue to increase its ] at high altitudes in the ] outside the Earth's ].

Upon approach of the target moon, a spacecraft will be drawn ever closer to its surface at increasing speeds due to gravity. In order to land intact it must decelerate to less than about {{convert|160|km/h}} and be ruggedized to withstand a "hard landing" impact, or it must decelerate to negligible speed at contact for a "soft landing" (which is the only viable option with human occupants). The first three attempts by the U.S. to perform a successful hard moon landing with a ruggedized ] package in 1962 all failed.<ref name="nasa-ranger3">{{cite web| url= http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-012A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 3 Details| accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref> The Soviets first achieved the milestone of a hard lunar landing with a ruggedized camera in 1966, followed only months later by the first unmanned soft lunar landing by the U.S.

The speed of a crash landing on its surface is typically between 70 and 100% of the ] of the target moon, and thus this is the total velocity which must be shed from the target moon's gravitational attraction for a soft landing to occur. For Earth's Moon, the escape velocity is {{convert| 2.38|km/s}}.<ref name="GgLunarXPrize-MoonInfo">{{cite web|url=http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/education/learning-guides/escape-from-the-moon|title=Escape from the Moon!|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref> The change in velocity (referred to as a ]) is usually provided by a landing rocket, which must be carried into space by the original ] as part of the overall spacecraft. An exception is the soft moon landing on ] carried out by the ] in 2005. As the moon with the thickest atmosphere, landings on Titan may be accomplished by using ] techniques that are generally lighter in weight than a rocket with equivalent capability.

The Soviets succeeded in making the first crash landing on the Moon in 1959.<ref name="nasa-luna2">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1959-014A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Lun 2 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref> Crash landings<ref name="hard-landing">{{cite web| url= http://www.aai.ee/~vladislav/program_yft0060.html| title= Homepage of V.V Pustynski for students of YFT0060| publisher= ]| location= Estonia| accessdate= 17 February 2011| deadurl= yes| archiveurl= https://archive.is/20121218012317/http://www.aai.ee/~vladislav/program_yft0060.html| archivedate= 18 December 2012| df= dmy-all}}</ref> may occur because of malfunctions in a spacecraft, or they can be deliberately arranged for vehicles which do not have an onboard landing rocket. There have been ], often with their flight path controlled to impact at precise locations on the lunar surface. For example, during the Apollo program the ] third stage of the ] moon rocket as well as the spent ascent stage of the ] were deliberately crashed on the Moon several times to provide impacts registering as a ] on ]s that had been left on the lunar surface. Such crashes were instrumental in mapping the ].

To return to Earth, the escape velocity of the Moon must be overcome for the spacecraft to escape the ] of the Moon. Rockets must be used to leave the Moon and return to space. Upon reaching Earth, atmospheric entry techniques are used to absorb the ] of a returning spacecraft and reduce its speed for safe landing.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} These functions greatly complicate a moon landing mission and lead to many additional operational considerations. Any moon departure rocket must first be carried to the Moon's surface by a moon landing rocket, increasing the latter's required size. The Moon departure rocket, larger moon landing rocket and any Earth atmosphere entry equipment such as heat shields and ]s must in turn be lifted by the original launch vehicle, greatly increasing its size by a significant and almost prohibitive degree.

== Political background ==
{{Main|Space Race}}
{{Tone|section|date=January 2016}}
{{Importance section|date=January 2016}}
{{refimprove section|date=January 2013}}
The intense efforts devoted in the 1960s to achieving first an unmanned and then ultimately a manned moon landing become easier to understand in the political context of its historical era. ] had introduced many new and deadly innovations including ]-style surprise attacks used in the ] and in the ]; the ], a ] which killed thousands in attacks on London and ]; and the ], which killed hundreds of thousands in the ]. In the 1950s, tensions mounted between the two ideologically opposed superpowers of the United States and the ] that had emerged as victors in the conflict, particularly after the development by both countries of the ].
]
] wrote in 1957 that a rocket to the Moon "could be built later this year if somebody can be found to sign some papers".<ref name="ley195707">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1957-07/Galaxy_1957_07#page/n61/mode/2up | title=For Your Information | work=Galaxy Science Fiction | date=July 1957 | accessdate=11 June 2014 | author=Ley, Willy | number=61–71|p=69}}</ref> On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union ] '']'' as the first ] to orbit the Earth and so initiated the ]. This unexpected event was a source of pride to the Soviets and shock to the U.S., who could now potentially be surprise attacked by nuclear-tipped Soviet rockets in under 30 minutes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} Also, the steady beeping of the ] aboard ''Sputnik 1'' as it passed overhead every 96 minutes was widely viewed on both sides{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} as effective propaganda to ] countries demonstrating the technological superiority of the Soviet ] compared to that of the U.S. This perception was reinforced by a string of subsequent rapid-fire Soviet space achievements. In 1959, the R-7 rocket was used to launch the first escape from Earth's gravity into a ], the first crash impact onto the surface of the Moon and the first photography of the never-before-seen ]. These were the ], ] and ] spacecraft.

]]]
The U.S. response to these Soviet achievements was to greatly accelerate previously existing military space and missile projects and to create a civilian space agency, ]. Military efforts were initiated to develop and produce mass quantities of intercontinental ballistic missiles (]) that would bridge the so-called ] and enable a policy of ] to ] with the Soviets known as ] or MAD. These newly developed ]s were made available to civilians of NASA for various projects (which would have the added benefit of demonstrating the payload, guidance accuracy and reliabilities of U.S. ICBMs to the Soviets).

While NASA stressed peaceful and scientific uses for these rockets, their use in various lunar exploration efforts also had secondary goal of realistic, goal-oriented testing of the missiles themselves and development of associated infrastructure,{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} just as the Soviets were doing with their R-7.

== Early Soviet unmanned lunar missions (1958–1965) ==
]
After the ] in 1991, historical records were released to allow the true accounting of Soviet lunar efforts. Unlike the U.S. tradition of assigning a particular mission name in advance of a launch, the Soviets assigned a public "]" mission number only if a launch resulted in a spacecraft going beyond Earth orbit. The policy had the effect of hiding Soviet Moon mission failures from public view. If the attempt failed in Earth orbit before departing for the Moon, it was frequently (but not always) given a "]" or "]" Earth-orbit mission number to hide its purpose. Launch explosions were not acknowledged at all.

{| class="wikitable" style="background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! align=left | U.S.S.R. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Launch vehicle
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
|-
|
|
| ] – 8K72
| align="right" | 23 September 1958
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 93 s
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 12 October 1958
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 104 s
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 4 December 1958
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 254 s
|-
| ]
| 361
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 2 January 1959
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – first spacecraft to reach escape velocity, lunar flyby, solar orbit; Missed the Moon
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 18 June 1959
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 153 s
|-
| ]
| 390
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 12 September 1959
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – first lunar impact
|-
| ]
| 270
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 4 October 1959
| Lunar flyby
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – first photos of lunar far side
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 15 April 1960
| Lunar flyby
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K72
| align="right" | 16 April 1960
| Lunar flyby
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 1 s
|-
| ]-25
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 4 January 1963
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – stranded in low Earth orbit
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 3 February 1963
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction at T+ 105 s
|-
| ]
| 1422
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 2 April 1963
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar flyby at {{convert|8000|km|mi}}
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 21 March 1964
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 20 April 1964
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
| ]-60
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 12 March 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – stranded in low Earth orbit
|-
|
|
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 10 April 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
| ]
| 1475
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 9 May 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar impact
|-
| ]
| 1440
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 8 June 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar flyby at {{convert|160000|km|mi}}
|-
| ]
| 1504
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 4 October 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar impact
|-
| ]
| 1550
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 3 December 1965
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar impact during landing attempt
|-
|}

== Early U.S. unmanned lunar missions (1958–1965) ==
]
]

In contrast to Soviet lunar exploration triumphs in 1959, success eluded initial U.S. efforts to reach the Moon with the ] and ]s. Fifteen consecutive U.S. unmanned lunar missions over a six-year period from 1958 to 1964 all failed their primary photographic missions;<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928103019/http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/Programs/pioneer.html |date=28 September 2009 }}.</ref><ref>Lunar Impact{{Cite web|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19780007206_1978007206.pdf| title=Lunar Missions 1958 through 1965| accessdate=9 September 2009| publisher=Nasa History Series|format=PDF}}</ref> however, Rangers 4 and 6 successfully repeated the Soviet lunar impacts as part of their secondary missions.<ref name="nasa-ranger4">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-012A| title= NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 4 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="nasa-ranger6">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1964-007A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 6 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref>

Failures included three U.S. attempts<ref name="nasa-ranger3"/><ref name="nasa-ranger4"/><ref name="nasa-ranger5">{{cite web| url= http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-055A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 5 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref> in 1962 to hard land small seismometer packages released by the main Ranger spacecraft. These surface packages were to use ]s to survive landing, unlike the parent vehicle, which was designed to deliberately crash onto the surface. The final three Ranger probes performed successful high altitude lunar ] photography missions during intentional crash impacts between {{convert|2.62|and|2.68|km/s|km/h}}.<ref name="nasa-ranger7">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1964-041A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 7 Details}}</ref><ref name="nasa-ranger8">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1965-010A| title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 8 Details}}</ref><ref name="nasa-ranger9">{{cite web| url= http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1965-023A| title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 9 Details}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! align=left | U.S. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Launch vehicle
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
|-
| ]
| 38
| ]
| align="right" | 17 August 1958
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – first stage explosion; destroyed
|-
|]
| 34
| Thor-Able
| align="right" | 11 October 1958
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – software error; reentry
|-
| ]
| 39
| Thor-Able
| align="right" | 8 November 1958
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – third stage misfire; reentry
|-
| ]
| 6
| Juno
| align="right" | 6 December 1958
| Lunar flyby
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – first stage misfire, reentry
|-
| ]
| 6
| Juno
| align="right" | 3 March 1959
| Lunar flyby
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – first US craft to reach escape velocity, lunar flyby too far to shoot photos due to targeting error; solar orbit
|-
| ]
| 168
| Atlas-Able
| align="right" | 24 September 1959
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – pad explosion; destroyed
|-
| ]
| 168
| Atlas-Able
| align="right" | 29 November 1959
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – payload shroud; destroyed
|-
|]
| 175
| Atlas-Able
| align="right" | 25 September 1960
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – second stage anomaly; reentry
|-
| ]
| 175
| Atlas-Able
| align="right" | 15 December 1960
| Lunar orbit
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – first stage explosion; destroyed
|-
| ]
| 306
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 23 August 1961
| Prototype test
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – upper stage anomaly; reentry
|-
| ]
| 304
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 18 November 1961
| Prototype test
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – upper stage anomaly; reentry
|-
| ]
| 330
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 26 January 1962
| Moon Landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster guidance; solar orbit
|-
| ]
| 331
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 23 April 1962
| Moon Landing
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – first U.S. spacecraft to reach another celestial body; crash impact – no photos returned
|-
| ]
| 342
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 18 October 1962
| Moon Landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – spacecraft power; solar orbit
|-
| ]
| 367
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 30 January 1964
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – spacecraft camera; crash impact
|-
| ]
| 367
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 28 July 1964
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 4308 photos, crash impact
|-
| ]
| 367
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 17 February 1965
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 7137 photos, crash impact
|-
| ]
| 367
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 21 March 1965
| Lunar impact
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 5814 photos, crash impact
|}

=== Pioneer missions ===
Three different designs of Pioneer lunar probes were flown on three different modified ICBMs. Those flown on the ] booster modified with an Able upper stage carried an ] image scanning television system with a ] of 1 ] to study the Moon's surface, an ] to measure ] in space, a diaphragm/microphone assembly to detect ], a ], and temperature-variable resistors to monitor spacecraft internal thermal conditions. The first, a mission managed by the ], exploded during launch; all subsequent Pioneer lunar flights had NASA as the lead management organization. The next two returned to Earth and burned up upon reentry into the atmosphere after achieved maximum altitudes of around {{convert|110,000|km|mi}} and {{convert|1450|km|mi|}}, far short of the roughly {{convert|400000|km|mi}} required to reach the vicinity of the Moon.

NASA then collaborated with the ]'s ] to fly two extremely small cone-shaped probes on the ] ICBM, carrying only ] which would be triggered by the light of the Moon and a lunar radiation environment experiment using a ] detector. The first of these reached an altitude of only around {{convert| 100000|km|mi}}, serendipitously gathering data that established the presence of the ] before reentering Earth's atmosphere. The second passed by the Moon at a distance of more than {{convert|60000|km|mi}}, twice as far as planned and too far away to trigger either of the on-board scientific instruments, yet still becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to reach a ].

The final Pioneer lunar probe design consisted of four "]" ] extending from a one-meter diameter spherical ] spacecraft body that was equipped to take images of the lunar surface with a television-like system, estimate the Moon's mass and topography of the ], record the distribution and velocity of micrometeorites, study radiation, measure ], detect ] in space and use a sophisticated integrated ] system for maneuvering and orbit insertion as well. None of the four spacecraft built in this series of probes survived launch on its ] ICBM outfitted with an Able upper stage.

Following the unsuccessful Atlas-Able Pioneer probes, NASA's ] embarked upon an unmanned spacecraft development program whose modular design could be used to support both lunar and interplanetary exploration missions. The interplanetary versions were known as ]; lunar versions were ]. JPL envisioned three versions of the Ranger lunar probes: Block I prototypes, which would carry various radiation detectors in test flights to a very high Earth orbit that came nowhere near the Moon; Block II, which would try to accomplish the first Moon landing by hard landing a seismometer package; and Block III, which would crash onto the lunar surface without any braking rockets while taking very high resolution wide-area photographs of the Moon during their descent.

=== Ranger missions ===
{{See also|Ranger program}}
The Ranger 1 and 2 Block I missions were virtually identical.<ref name="nasa-ranger1">{{cite web| url= http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1961-021A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 1 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="nasa-ranger2">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1961-032A|title=NASA – NSSDC – Spacecraft – Ranger 2 Details|accessdate=17 February 2011}}</ref> Spacecraft experiments included a ] telescope, a ] ], electrostatic analyzers, medium-energy-range ]s, two triple coincidence telescopes, a cosmic-ray integrating ], ] detectors, and ]s. The goal was to place these Block I spacecraft in a very high Earth orbit with an apogee of {{convert|110000|km|mi}} and a ] of {{convert|60000|km|mi}}.<ref name="nasa-ranger1"/>

From that vantage point, scientists could make direct measurements of the ] over a period of many months while engineers perfected new methods to routinely track and communicate with spacecraft over such large distances. Such practice was deemed vital to be assured of capturing high-bandwidth television transmissions from the Moon during a one-shot fifteen-minute time window in subsequent Block II and Block III lunar descents. Both Block I missions suffered failures of the new Agena upper stage and never left low Earth ] after launch; both burned up upon reentry after only a few days.

The first attempts to perform a Moon landing took place in 1962 during the Rangers 3, 4 and 5 missions flown by the United States.<ref name="nasa-ranger3"/><ref name="nasa-ranger4"/><ref name="nasa-ranger5"/> All three Block II missions basic vehicles were 3.1&nbsp;m high and consisted of a lunar capsule covered with a balsa wood impact-limiter, 650&nbsp;mm in diameter, a mono-propellant mid-course motor, a retrorocket with a thrust of {{convert|5050|lbf|kN}},<ref name="nasa-ranger4"/> and a gold- and chrome-plated hexagonal base 1.5&nbsp;m in diameter. This lander (code-named ''Tonto'') was designed to provide impact cushioning using an exterior blanket of crushable balsa wood and an interior filled with incompressible liquid ]. A 42&nbsp;kg (56 pounds) {{convert|30|cm|ft|adj=mid|-diameter}} metal payload sphere floated and was free to rotate in a liquid freon reservoir contained in the landing sphere{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}.

This payload sphere contained six silver-] batteries to power a fifty-milliwatt radio transmitter, a temperature sensitive voltage controlled oscillator to measure lunar surface temperatures, and a seismometer that was designed with sensitivity high enough to detect the impact of a {{convert|5|lb|kg|abbr=on}} meteorite on the opposite side of the Moon. Weight was distributed in the payload sphere so it would rotate in its liquid blanket to place the seismometer into an upright and operational position no matter what the final resting orientation of the external landing sphere. After landing, plugs were to be opened allowing the freon to evaporate and the payload sphere to settle into upright contact with the landing sphere. The batteries were sized to allow up to three months of operation for the payload sphere. Various mission constraints limited the landing site to Oceanus Procellarum on the lunar equator, which the lander ideally would reach 66 hours after launch.

No cameras were carried by the Ranger landers, and no pictures were to be captured from the lunar surface during the mission. Instead, the {{convert|3.1|m|ft}} Ranger Block II mother ship carried a 200-scan-line television camera which was to capture images during the free-fall descent to the lunar surface. The camera was designed to transmit a picture every 10 seconds.<ref name="nasa-ranger4"/> Seconds before impact, at {{convert|5|and|0.6|km|mi}} above the lunar surface, the Ranger mother ships took picture (which may be viewed ).

Other instruments gathering data before the mother ship crashed onto the Moon were a gamma ray spectrometer to measure overall lunar chemical composition and a radar altimeter. The radar altimeter was to give a signal ejecting the landing capsule and its solid-fueled braking rocket overboard from the Block II mother ship. The braking rocket was to slow and the landing sphere to a dead stop at {{convert|330|m|ft}} above the surface and separate, allowing the landing sphere to free fall once more and hit the surface{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}.

On Ranger 3, failure of the Atlas guidance system and a software error aboard the Agena upper stage combined to put the spacecraft on a course that would miss the Moon. Attempts to salvage lunar photography during a flyby of the Moon were thwarted by in-flight failure of the onboard flight computer. This was probably because of prior ] of the spacecraft by keeping it above the ] point of water for 24 hours on the ground, to protect the Moon from being contaminated by Earth organisms. Heat sterilization was also blamed for subsequent in-flight failures of the spacecraft computer on Ranger 4 and the power subsystem on Ranger 5. Only Ranger 4 reached the Moon in an uncontrolled crash impact on the far side of the Moon.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Heat sterilization was discontinued for the final four Block III Ranger probes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} These replaced the Block II landing capsule and its retrorocket with a heavier, more capable television system to support landing site selection for upcoming Apollo manned Moon landing missions. Six cameras were designed to take thousands of high-altitude photographs in the final twenty-minute period before crashing on the lunar surface. Camera resolution was 1,132 scan lines, far higher than the 525 lines found in a typical U.S. 1964 home television. While ] suffered a failure of this camera system and returned no photographs despite an otherwise successful flight, the subsequent ] mission to Mare Cognitum was a complete success.

Breaking the six-year string of failures in U.S. attempts to photograph the Moon at close range, the ] mission was viewed as a national turning point and instrumental in allowing the key 1965 NASA budget appropriation to pass through the ] intact without a reduction in funds for the Apollo manned Moon landing program. Subsequent successes with ] and ] further buoyed U.S. hopes.

== Soviet unmanned soft landings (1966–1976) ==
]
]
The ] spacecraft, launched by the ], performed the first successful soft Moon landing on 3 February. ] protected its {{convert|99|kg|lb}} ejectable capsule which survived an impact speed of over {{convert|15|m/s|km/h}}.<ref name="astronautix-luna9">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunae6.htm|title=Astronautix Luna E-6|accessdate=February 18, 2011}}</ref> ] duplicated this feat with a similar Moon landing on 24 December 1966. Both returned panoramic photographs that were the first views from the lunar surface.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Moon Exploration|url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/space-exploration/moon-exploration-article.html|work=National Geographic |accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref>

] was the first ] to land on the ] and safely return a sample of lunar soil back to Earth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burrows |first=William E. |title=This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age |year=1999 |publisher=Modern Library | pages=432 |isbn=0-375-75485-7}}</ref> It represented the first ] return mission by the ], and was the third lunar ] overall, following the ] and ] missions. This mission was later successfully repeated by ] (1972) and ] (1976).

In 1970 and 1973 two ] ("Moonwalker") robotic lunar rovers were delivered to the Moon, where they successfully operated for 10 and 4 months respectively, covering 10.5&nbsp;km (]) and 37&nbsp;km (]). These rover missions were in operation concurrently with the Zond and Luna series of Moon flyby, orbiter and landing missions.

{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! align=left | U.S.S.R. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Booster
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
! align=center | Landing zone
! align=center | ]/]
|-
| ]
| 1580
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 31 January 1966
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – first lunar soft landing, numerous photos
| ]
| 7.13°N 64.37°W
|-
| ]
| 1580
| Semyorka – 8K78
| align="right" | 21 December 1966
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – second lunar soft landing, numerous photos
| ]
| 18°52'N 62°3'W
|-
|
|
| ]
| align="right" | 19 February 1969
| Lunar rover
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|
|
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 14 June 1969
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|
|
|-
| ]
| 5,700
| Proton
| align="right" | 13 July 1969
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar crash impact
| ]
| unknown
|-
| Cosmos-300
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 23 September 1969
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – stranded in low Earth orbit
|
|
|-
| Cosmos-305
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 22 October 1969
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – stranded in low Earth orbit
|
|
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 6 February 1970
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|
|
|-
| ]
| 5,600
| Proton
| align="right" | 12 September 1970
| Sample return
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 0.10&nbsp;kg of Moon soil back to Earth
| ]
| 000.68S 056.30E
|-
| ]
| 5,700
| Proton
| align="right" | 10 November 1970
| Lunar rover
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – ] rover traveled 10.5&nbsp;km across lunar surface
| ]
| 038.28N 325.00E
|-
| ]
| 5,750
| Proton
| align="right" | 2 September 1971
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – lunar crash impact
| Mare Fecunditatis
| 003.57N 056.50E
|-
| ]
| 5,727
| Proton
| align="right" | 14 February 1972
| Sample return
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 0.05&nbsp;kg of Moon soil back to Earth
| Mare Fecunditatis
| 003.57N 056.50E
|-
| ]
| 5,950
| Proton
| align="right" | 8 January 1973
| Lunar rover
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – ] rover traveled 37.0&nbsp;km across lunar surface
| ]
| 025.85N 030.45E
|-
| ]
| 5,800
| Proton
| align="right" | 28 October 1974
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – Moon landing achieved, but malfunction prevented sample return
| Mare Crisium
| 012.00N 062.00E
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 16 October 1975
| Sample return
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|
|
|-
| ]
| 5,800
| Proton
| align="right" | 9 August 1976
| Sample return
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – returned 0.17&nbsp;kg of Moon soil back to Earth
| Mare Crisium
| 012.25N 062.20E
|-
|}

== U.S. unmanned soft landings (1966–1968) ==
]
], commander of ], stands next to Surveyor 3 lander. In the background is the Apollo 12 lander, ''Intrepid''.]]

The U.S. ]ic ] was part of an effort to locate a safe site on the Moon for a human landing and test under lunar conditions the ] and landing systems required to make a true controlled touchdown. Five of Surveyor's seven missions made successful unmanned Moon landings. Surveyor 3 was visited two years after its Moon landing by the crew of Apollo 12. They removed parts of it for examination back on Earth to determine the effects of long-term exposure to the lunar environment.

{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse; "
|-
! align=left | U.S. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Booster
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
! align=center | Landing zone
! align=center | ]/]
|-
| ]
| 292
| ] – ]
| 30 May 1966
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 11,000 pictures returned, first U.S. Moon landing
| ]
| 002.45S 043.22W
|-
| ]
| 292
| Atlas – Centaur
| 20 September 1966
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – midcourse engine malfunction, placing vehicle in unrecoverable tumble; crashed southeast of Copernicus Crater
| ]
| 004.00S 011.00W
|-
| ]
| 302
| Atlas – Centaur
| 20 April 1967
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 6,000 pictures returned; trench dug to 17.5&nbsp;cm depth after 18&nbsp;hr of robot arm use
| Oceanus Procellarum
| 002.94S 336.66E
|-
| ]
| 282
| Atlas – Centaur
| 14 July 1967
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – radio contact lost 2.5 minutes before touchdown; perfect automated Moon landing possible but outcome unknown
| Sinus Medii
| unknown
|-
| ]
| 303
| Atlas – Centaur
| 8 September 1967
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 19,000 photos returned, first use of alpha scatter soil composition monitor
| ]
| 001.41N 023.18E
|-
| ]
| 300
| Atlas – Centaur
| 7 November 1967
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 30,000 photos returned, robot arm & alpha scatter science, engine restart, second landing 2.5&nbsp;m away from first
| Sinus Medii
| 000.46N 358.63E
|-
| ]
| 306
| Atlas – Centaur
| 7 January 1968
| Moon landing
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 21,000 photos returned; robot arm & alpha scatter science; laser beams from Earth detected
| ]
| 041.01S 348.59E
|-
|}

== Transition from direct ascent landings to lunar orbit operations ==
Within four months of each other in early 1966 the Soviet Union and the United States had accomplished successful Moon landings with unmanned spacecraft. To the general public both countries had demonstrated roughly equal technical capabilities by returning photographic images from the surface of the Moon. These pictures provided a key affirmative answer to the crucial question of whether or not lunar soil would support upcoming manned landers with their much greater weight.

However, the Luna 9 hard landing of a ruggedized sphere using airbags at a {{convert|50|km|mi}}-per-hour ballistic impact speed had much more in common with the failed 1962 Ranger landing attempts and their planned {{convert|160|km|mi|}}-per-hour impacts than with the Surveyor 1 soft landing on three footpads using its radar-controlled, adjustable-thrust retrorocket. While Luna 9 and Surveyor 1 were both major national accomplishments, only Surveyor 1 had reached its landing site employing key technologies that would be needed for a manned flight. Thus as of mid-1966, the United States had begun to pull ahead of the Soviet Union in the so-called Space Race to land a man on the Moon.

]

Advances in other areas were necessary before manned spacecraft could follow unmanned ones to the surface of the Moon. Of particular importance was developing the expertise to perform flight operations in lunar orbit. Ranger, Surveyor and initial Luna Moon landing attempts all utilized flight paths from Earth that traveled directly to the lunar surface without first placing the spacecraft in a lunar orbit. Such ]s use a minimum amount of fuel for unmanned spacecraft on a one-way trip.

In contrast, manned vehicles need additional fuel after a lunar landing to enable a return trip back to Earth for the crew. Leaving this massive amount of required Earth-return fuel in lunar orbit until it is used later in the mission is far more efficient than taking such fuel down to the lunar surface in a Moon landing and then hauling it all back into space yet again, working against lunar gravity both ways. Such considerations lead logically to a ] mission profile for a manned Moon landing.

Accordingly, beginning in mid-1966 both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. naturally progressed into missions which featured lunar orbit operations as a necessary prerequisite to a manned Moon landing. The primary goals of these initial unmanned orbiters were extensive photographic mapping of the entire lunar surface for the selection of manned landing sites and, for the Soviets, the checkout of radio communications gear that would be used in future soft landings.

An unexpected major discovery from initial lunar orbiters were vast volumes of dense materials beneath the surface of the Moon's ]. Such mass concentrations ("]") can send a manned mission dangerously off course in the final minutes of a Moon landing when aiming for a relatively small landing zone that is smooth and safe. Mascons were also found over a longer period of time to greatly disturb the orbits of low-altitude satellites around the Moon, making their orbits unstable and forcing an inevitable crash on the lunar surface in the relatively short period of months to a few years.

Controlling the location of impact for spent lunar orbiters can have scientific value. For example, in 1999 the NASA ] orbiter was deliberately targeted to impact a permanently shadowed area of Shoemaker Crater near the lunar south pole. It was hoped that energy from the impact would vaporize suspected shadowed ice deposits in the crater and liberate a water vapor plume that would be detectable from Earth. No such plume was observed. However, a small vial of ashes from the body of pioneer lunar scientist ] was delivered by the Lunar Prospector to the crater named in his honor – currently the only human remains on the Moon.

== Soviet lunar orbit satellites (1966–1974) ==
{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-

! align=center | U.S.S.R. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Booster
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
|-
| Cosmos – 111
|
| ]
| align="right" | 1 March 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – stranded in low Earth orbit
|-
| ]
| 1,582
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 31 March 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 2,738&nbsp;km x 2,088&nbsp;km x 72 deg orbit, 178&nbsp;m period, 60-day science mission
|-
| ]
| 1,640
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 24 August 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 2,931&nbsp;km x 1,898&nbsp;km x 27 deg orbit, 178&nbsp;m period, 38-day science mission
|-
| ]
| 1,620
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 22 October 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 2,938&nbsp;km x 1,871&nbsp;km x 10 deg orbit, 205&nbsp;m period, 89-day science mission
|-
| Cosmos-159
| 1,700
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 17 May 1967
| Prototype test
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – high Earth orbit manned landing communications gear radio calibration test
|-
|
|
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 7 February 1968
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit – attempted radio calibration test?
|-
| ]
| 1,700
| Molniya-M
| align="right" | 7 April 1968
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 870&nbsp;km x 160&nbsp;km x 42 deg orbit, 160&nbsp;m period, unstable orbit, radio calibration test?
|-
| ]
| 5,700
| ]
| align="right" | 28 September 1971
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 140&nbsp;km x 140&nbsp;km x 41 deg orbit, 121&nbsp;m period, 388-day science mission
|-
| ]
| 5,700
| Proton
| align="right" | 29 May 1974
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 222&nbsp;km x 219&nbsp;km x 19 deg orbit, 130&nbsp;m period, 521-day science mission
|-
|}

] became the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon on 3 April 1966.

== U.S. lunar orbit satellites (1966–1967) ==
{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! align=left | U.S. mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Booster
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Mission result
|-
| ]
| 386
| ] – ]
| align="right" | 10 August 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 1,160&nbsp;km X 189&nbsp;km x 12 deg orbit, 208&nbsp;m period, 80-day photography mission
|-
| ]
| 386
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 6 November 1966
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 1,860&nbsp;km X 52&nbsp;km x 12 deg orbit, 208&nbsp;m period, 339-day photography mission
|-
| ]
| 386
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 5 February 1967
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 1,860&nbsp;km X 52&nbsp;km x 21 deg orbit, 208&nbsp;m period, 246-day photography mission
|-
| ]
| 386
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 4 May 1967
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 6,111&nbsp;km X 2,706&nbsp;km x 86 deg orbit, 721&nbsp;m period, 180-day photography mission
|-
| ]
| 386
| Atlas – Agena
| align="right" | 1 August 1967
| Lunar orbiter
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – 6,023&nbsp;km X 195&nbsp;km x 85 deg orbit, 510&nbsp;m period, 183-day photography mission
|-
|}

== Soviet circumlunar loop flights (1967–1970) ==
{{Main|Soviet manned lunar programs}}
] mounted on top stage of Proton booster in assembly hangar.]]
It is possible to aim a spacecraft from Earth so that it will loop around the Moon and return to Earth without entering lunar orbit, following the so-called ]. Such circumlunar loop missions are simpler than lunar orbit missions because rockets for lunar orbit braking and Earth return are not required. However, a manned circumlunar loop trip poses significant challenges above and beyond those found in a manned low-Earth-orbit mission, offering valuable lessons in preparation for a manned Moon landing. Foremost among these are mastering the demands of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere upon returning from the Moon.

Manned Earth-orbiting vehicles such as the Space Shuttle return to Earth from speeds of around {{convert|17000|mph|km/h m/s}}. Due to the effects of gravity, a vehicle returning from the Moon hits Earth's atmosphere at a much higher speed of around {{convert|25000|mph|km/h m/s}}. The ] on astronauts during the resulting ] can be at the limits of human endurance even during a nominal reentry. Slight variations in the vehicle flight path and reentry angle during a return from the Moon can easily result in fatal levels of deceleration force.

Achieving a manned circumlunar loop flight prior to a manned lunar landing became a primary goal of the Soviets with their ] spacecraft program. The first three Zonds were unmanned planetary probes; after that, the Zond name was transferred to a completely separate manned program. The initial focus of these later Zonds was extensive testing of required high-speed reentry techniques. This focus was not shared by the U.S., who chose instead to bypass the stepping stone of a manned circumlunar loop mission and never developed a separate spacecraft for this purpose.

Initial manned spaceflights in the early 1960s placed a single person in low Earth orbit during the Soviet ] and U.S. ] programs. A two-flight extension of the Vostok program known as ] effectively used Vostok capsules with their ejection seats removed to achieve Soviet space firsts of multiple person crews in 1964 and spacewalks in early 1965. These capabilities were later demonstrated by the U.S. in ten ] low Earth orbit missions throughout 1965 and 1966, using a totally new second-generation spacecraft design that had little in common with the earlier Mercury. These Gemini missions went on to prove critical techniques for orbital ] that were crucial to a manned lunar landing mission profile.

After the end of the Gemini program, the Soviets Union began flying their second-generation Zond manned spacecraft in 1967 with the ultimate goal of looping a cosmonaut around the Moon and returning him immediately to Earth. The ] spacecraft was launched with the simpler and already operational ] launch rocket, unlike the parallel Soviet manned Moon landing effort also underway at the time based on third-generation ] requiring development of the advanced ] booster. The Soviets thus believed they could achieve a manned Zond circumlunar flight years before a U.S. manned lunar landing and so score a propaganda victory. However, significant development problems delayed the Zond program and the success of the U.S. Apollo lunar landing program led to the eventual termination of the Zond effort.

Like Zond, Apollo Moon flights were generally launched on a free return trajectory that would return them to Earth via a circumlunar loop in the event that a Service Module malfunction failed to place them in lunar orbit as planned. This option was implemented after an explosion aboard the ] mission in 1970, which is the only manned circumlunar loop mission flown to date.

{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse; "
|-
! align=left | U.S.S.R mission
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=center | Booster
! align=center | Launched
! align=center | Mission goal
! align=center | Payload
! align=center | Mission result
|-
| ]
| 5,400
| ]
| align="right" | 10 March 1967
| High Earth Orbit
| unmanned
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – Successfully reached high Earth orbit, but became stranded and was unable to initiate controlled high speed atmospheric reentry test
|-
| ]
| 5,400
| Proton
| align="right" | 8 April 1967
| High Earth Orbit
| unmanned
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – Successfully reached high Earth orbit, but became stranded and was unable to initiate controlled high speed atmospheric reentry test
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 28 September 1967
| High Earth Orbit
| unmanned
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 22 November 1967
| High Earth Orbit
| unmanned
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
| ]
| 5,140
| Proton
| align="right" | 2 March 1968
| High Earth Orbit
| unmanned
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – launched successfully to 300,000&nbsp;km high Earth orbit, high speed reentry test guidance malfunction, intentional self-destruct to prevent landfall outside Soviet Union
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 23 April 1968
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit; launch preparation tank explosion kills three in pad crew
|-
| ]
| 5,375
| Proton
| align="right" | 15 September 1968
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – looped around Moon, returned live biological payload safely to Earth despite landing off-target outside the Soviet Union in the Indian Ocean
|-
| ]
| 5,375
| Proton
| align="right" | 10 November 1968
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:orange;">Partial success</span> – looped around Moon, successful reentry, but loss of cabin air pressure caused biological payload death, parachute system malfunction and severe vehicle damage upon landing
|-
|
|
| Proton
| align="right" | 20 January 1969
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:red;">Failure</span> – booster malfunction, failed to reach Earth orbit
|-
| ]
| 5,979
| Proton
| align="right" | 8 August 1969
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – looped around Moon, returned biological payload safely to Earth and landed on-target inside Soviet Union. Only Zond mission whose reentry G-forces would have been survivable by human crew had they been aboard.
|-
| ]
| 5,375
| Proton
| align="right" | 20 October 1970
| Circumlunar Loop
| non-human biological payload
| <span style="color:green;">Success</span> – looped around Moon, returned biological payload safely to Earth despite landing off-target outside Soviet Union in the Indian Ocean
|-
|}

Zond 5 was the first spacecraft to carry life from Earth to the vicinity of the Moon and return, initiating the final lap of the ] with its payload of turtles, insects, plants and bacteria. Despite the failure suffered in its final moments, the Zond 6 mission was reported by Soviet media as being a success as well. Although hailed worldwide as remarkable achievements, both of these Zond missions flew off-nominal reentry trajectories resulting in deceleration forces that would have been fatal to human crewmembers had they been aboard.

As a result, the Soviets secretly planned to continue unmanned Zond tests until their reliability to support manned flight had been demonstrated. However, due to NASA's continuing problems with the ], and because of ] reports of a potential Soviet manned circumlunar flight in late 1968, NASA fatefully changed the flight plan of ] from an Earth-orbit lunar module test to a lunar orbit mission scheduled for late December 1968.

In early December 1968 the launch window to the Moon opened for the Soviet launch site in ], giving the USSR their final chance to beat the US to the Moon. ] went on alert and asked to fly the Zond spacecraft then in final countdown at Baikonur on the first manned trip to the Moon. Ultimately, however, the Soviet ] decided the risk of crew death was unacceptable given the combined poor performance to that point of Zond/Proton and so scrubbed the launch of a manned Soviet lunar mission. Their decision proved to be a wise one, since this unnumbered Zond mission was destroyed in another unmanned test when it was finally launched several weeks later.

By this time flights of the third generation U.S. ] spacecraft had begun. Far more capable than the Zond, the Apollo spacecraft had the necessary rocket power to slip into and out of lunar orbit and to make course adjustments required for a safe reentry during the return to Earth. The Apollo 8 mission carried out the first manned trip to the Moon on 24 December 1968, certifying the ] booster for manned use and flying not a circumlunar loop but instead a full ten orbits around the Moon before returning safely to Earth. ] then performed a full dress rehearsal of a manned Moon landing in May 1969. This mission orbited within {{convert|47,400|ft|km}} altitude above the lunar surface, performing necessary low-altitude mapping of trajectory-altering mascons using a factory prototype lunar module that was too overweight to allow a successful landing. With the failure of the unmanned Soviet sample return Moon landing attempt ] in July 1969, the stage was set for ].

== Manned Moon landings (1969–1972) ==
] and the Soviet ].]]

=== US strategy ===
{{Main|Apollo program#Political pressure builds}}
Plans for manned Moon exploration originated during the ] administration. In a series of mid-1950s articles in '']'' magazine, ] had popularized the idea of a manned expedition to the Moon to establish a lunar base. A manned Moon landing posed several daunting technical challenges to the US and USSR. Besides guidance and weight management, ] without ] overheating was a major hurdle. After the Soviet Union's launch of ], von Braun promoted a plan for the United States Army to establish a military lunar outpost by 1965.

After the ], especially ]'s flight, US President ] looked for a US project that would capture the public imagination. He asked Vice President ] to make recommendations on a scientific endeavor that would prove US world leadership. The proposals included non-space options such as massive irrigation projects to benefit the ]. The Soviets, at the time, had more powerful rockets than the United States, which gave them an advantage in some kinds of space mission.

Advances in US nuclear weapon technology had led to smaller, lighter warheads, and consequently, rockets with smaller payload capacities. By comparison, Soviet nuclear weapons were much heavier, and the powerful ] rocket was developed to carry them. More modest potential missions such as flying around the Moon without landing or establishing a space lab in orbit (both were proposed by Kennedy to von Braun) were determined to offer too much advantage to the Soviets, since the US would have to develop a heavy rocket to match the Soviets. A Moon landing, however, would capture world imagination while functioning as propaganda.

]
Johnson had championed the US manned space program ever since the Sputnik scare, sponsoring the legislation which created NASA when he was in the Senate in 1958. When Kennedy asked him in 1961 to research the best manned space achievement to counter the Soviets' lead, Johnson responded that the US had an even chance of beating the USSR to a manned lunar landing, but not for anything less. Kennedy seized on Apollo as the ideal focus for efforts in space. He ensured continuing funding, shielding space spending from the 1963 tax cut, but diverting money from other NASA scientific projects. This last dismayed NASA's leader, ], who perceived the need for NASA's support from the scientific community.

The Moon landing required development of the large Saturn V ], which achieved a perfect record of zero catastrophic failures or launch vehicle-caused mission failures, in thirteen launches.

For the program to succeed, its proponents would have to defeat criticism from politicians on the left, who wanted more money spent on social programs, and on those on the right, who favored a more military project. By emphasizing the scientific payoff and playing on fears of Soviet space dominance, Kennedy and Johnson managed to swing public opinion: by 1965, 58 percent of Americans favored Apollo, up from 33 percent two years earlier. After Johnson became President in 1963, his continuing defense of the program allowed it to succeed in 1969, as Kennedy planned.

=== Soviet strategy ===
{{Main|Soviet manned lunar programs{{!}}Soviet Moonshot}}

Soviet leader ] said in October 1963 that the USSR was "not at present planning flight by cosmonauts to the Moon," while insisting that the Soviets had not dropped out of the race. Only after another year would the USSR fully commit itself to a Moon-landing attempt, which ultimately failed.

At the same time, Kennedy had suggested various joint programs, including a possible Moon landing by Soviet and U.S. astronauts and the development of better weather-monitoring satellites. Khrushchev, sensing an attempt by Kennedy to steal Russian space technology, rejected the idea: if the USSR went to the Moon, it would go alone. ], the ]'s chief designer, had started promoting his ] craft and the ] launcher rocket that would have the capability of carrying out a manned Moon landing.

Khrushchev directed Korolev's design bureau to arrange further space firsts by modifying the existing Vostok technology, while a second team started building a completely new launcher and craft, the Proton booster and the Zond, for a manned cislunar flight in 1966. In 1964 the new Soviet leadership gave Korolev the backing for a Moon landing effort and brought all manned projects under his direction.

With Korolev's death and the failure of the first Soyuz flight in 1967, the co-ordination of the Soviet Moon landing program quickly unraveled. The Soviets built a landing craft and selected cosmonauts for the mission that would have placed ] on the Moon's surface, but with the successive launch failures of the N1 booster in 1969, plans for a manned landing suffered first delay and then cancellation.

=== Apollo missions ===
In total, twenty-four U.S. astronauts have traveled to the Moon. Three have made the trip twice, and twelve have walked on its surface. Apollo 8 was a lunar-orbit-only mission, Apollo 10 included undocking and Descent Orbit Insertion (DOI), followed by LM staging to CSM redocking, while Apollo 13, originally scheduled as a landing, ended up as a lunar fly-by, by means of ]; thus, none of these missions made landings. Apollo 7 and Apollo 9 were Earth-orbit-only missions. Apart from the inherent dangers of manned Moon expeditions as seen with Apollo 13, one reason for their cessation according to astronaut ] is the cost it imposes in government subsidies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In the Shadow of the Moon|url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=37065|publisher=comingsoon.net|accessdate=7 February 2008}}</ref>

=== Manned Moon landings ===
{| class="wikitable" style=" background: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Mission name
!Lunar lander
! width="11%" |Lunar landing date
! width="11%" |Lunar liftoff date
! width="12%" |Lunar landing site
!Duration on lunar surface
! width="25%" |Crew
!Number of ]s
!Total EVA Time (HH:MM)
|-
||]
||''Eagle''
| align="right" |20 July 1969
| align="right" |21 July 1969
||]
||21:31
||], ]
||1
||2:31
|-
||]
||''Intrepid''
| align="right" |19 November 1969
| align="right" |21 November 1969
||]
||1-day, 7:31
||], ]
||2
||7:45
|-
||]
||''Antares''
| align="right" |5 February 1971
| align="right" |6 February 1971
||]
||1-day, 9:30
||], ]
||2
||9:21
|-
||]
||''Falcon''
| align="right" |30 July 1971
| align="right" |2 August 1971
||]
||2 days, 18:55
||], ]
||3
||18:33
|-
||]
||''Orion''
| align="right" |21 April 1972
| align="right" |24 April 1972
||]
||2 days, 23:02
||], ]
||3
||20:14
|-
||]
||''Challenger''
| align="right" |11 December 1972
| align="right" |14 December 1972
||]
||3 days, 2:59
||], ]
||3
||22:04
|-
|}

=== Other aspects of the Apollo Moon successful landings ===
Unlike other international rivalries, the Space Race has remained unaffected in a direct way regarding the desire for territorial expansion. After the successful landings on the Moon, the U.S. explicitly disclaimed the right to ownership of any part of the Moon.

President Richard Nixon had speechwriter ] prepare a condolence speech for delivery in the event that Armstrong and Aldrin became marooned on the Moon's surface and could not be rescued.<ref>{{Cite web|title=White House 'Lost In Space' Scenarios|url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0808051apollo1.html|publisher=thesmokinggun.com|accessdate=7 February 2008}}</ref>

In 1951, science fiction writer ] forecast that man would reach the Moon by 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arthurcclarke.net/?scifi=3|title=Sir Arthur C. Clarke|publisher=}}</ref>

On 16 August 2006, the ] reported that NASA is ] ] tapes (which were made before the scan conversion for conventional TV) of the Apollo 11 Moon walk. Some news outlets have mistakenly reported that the SSTV tapes were found in Western Australia, but those tapes were only recordings of data from the Apollo 11 ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apollo TV Tapes: The Search Continues|url=http://www.space.com/news/061103_apollo_tapes.html|publisher=space.com|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref>

Scientists believe the six American flags planted by astronauts have been bleached white because of more than 40 years of exposure to solar radiation.<ref name="businessinsider">{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/those-american-flags-we-left-on-the-moon-they-are-faded-to-white-by-now-2012-7|title=The American Flags On The Moon Have All Turned White – Business Insider|publisher=businessinsider.com|accessdate=28 July 2014}}</ref> Using ] images, five of the six American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11.<ref name="LROC"/> Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11.<ref name="LROC">. Space.com. Retrieved 10 October 2014</ref>

== Late 20th–21st century unmanned crash landings ==

=== Hiten (Japan) ===
Launched on 24 January 1990, 11:46 UTC. At the end of its mission, the Japanese lunar orbiter ] was commanded to crash into the lunar surface and did so on 10 April 1993 at 18:03:25.7 UT (11 April 03:03:25.7 JST).<ref>, NSSDC, NASA. Accessed on line 18 October 2010.</ref>

=== Lunar Prospector (USA) ===
] was launched on 7 January 1998. The mission ended on 31 July 1999, when the orbiter was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole after the presence of water ice was successfully detected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/results/ice/eureka.htm |title=Eureka! Ice Found At Lunar Poles |publisher=NASA |year=2012 |accessdate=29 December 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209110937/http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/results/ice/eureka.htm |archivedate=9 December 2006 |df=dmy }}</ref>

=== SMART-1 (ESA) ===
Launched 27 September 2003, 23:14 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. At the end of its mission, the ] lunar orbiter ] performed a controlled crash into the Moon, at about 2&nbsp;km/s. The time of the crash was 3 September 2006, at 5:42 UTC.<ref>, NSSDC, NASA. Accessed on line 18 October 2010.</ref>

=== SELENE (Japan) ===
] or ''Kaguya'' was launched on 14 September 2007. After successfully orbiting the Moon for a year and eight months, the main orbiter was instructed to impact on the lunar surface near the crater ] at 18:25 UTC on 10 June 2009.<ref name="lunarimpact">{{cite web |url=http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/en/communication/KAGUYA_Lunar_Impact_e.htm |title=KAGUYA Lunar Impact |publisher=JAXA |accessdate=2009-06-24}}</ref>

=== Chang'e 1 (China) ===
The Chinese lunar orbiter ], launched 24 October 2007, 10:05 UTC, executed a controlled crash onto the surface of the Moon on 1 March 2009, 20:44 GMT, after a 16-month mission.<ref>, BBC News, 1 March 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.</ref>

=== Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 (India) ===
] was launched on 22 October 2008, 00:52 UTC. The impactor, the ], impacted near ] Crater at the south pole of the lunar surface at 14 November 2008, 20:31 IST.<ref name="Times Of India">{{cite news
|url =http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-11-15/india/27904216_1_lunar-surface-moon-impact-probe-chandrayaan
|title =Chandrayaan-I Impact Probe lands on the Moon
|accessdate =14 November 2008
|work =]
|date=15 November 2008}}</ref> ] is scheduled for launch in 2018.

=== LCROSS (USA) ===
The ] data collecting shepherding spacecraft was launched together with the ] (LRO) on 18 June 2009 on board an ] rocket with a ] upper stage. On 9 October 2009, at 11:31 ], the Centaur upper stage impacted the lunar surface, releasing the kinetic ] of detonating approximately 2 tons of ] (8.86 ]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/features/2009/LCROSS_new_crater.html|title=NASA's LCROSS Mission Changes Impact Crater|publisher=NASA|date=2009-09-29|accessdate=2009-11-21|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028005912/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/features/2009/LCROSS_new_crater.html|archivedate=2009-10-28}}</ref> Six minutes later at 11:37 UTC, the LCROSS shepherding spacecraft also impacted the surface.<ref>, "NASA crashes rocket into moon".</ref>

=== GRAIL (USA) ===
The ] mission consisted of two small spacecraft: GRAIL A (''Ebb''), and GRAIL B (''Flow''). They were launched on 10 September 2011 on board a ] rocket. GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, and GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://earthsky.org/space/moon-bound-twin-grail-spacecraft-launch-success|title=Moon-bound twin GRAIL spacecraft launch success - EarthSky.org|publisher=}}</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211061336/http://www.spaceflight101.com/grail-mission-updates.html |date=11 February 2015 }}</ref> The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/news/grail20111231.html|title=First of NASA's GRAIL Spacecraft Enters Moon Orbit|publisher=]|accessdate=1 January 2012}}</ref> The two spacecraft impacted the Lunar surface on 17 December 2012.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211061336/http://www.spaceflight101.com/grail-mission-updates.html |date=11 February 2015 }}</ref>

=== LADEE (USA) ===
] was launched on 7 September 2013.<ref name="gsfc-ladee">{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=LADEE|title=Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)|publisher=NASA|work=] Master Catalog}}</ref> The mission ended on 18 April 2014, when the spacecraft's controllers intentionally crashed LADEE into the ],<ref name="nyt20140418">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/science/space/nasa-lunar-explorer.html|title=With Planned Crash, NASA Lunar Mission Comes to End|work=]|first=Kenneth|last=Chang|date=18 April 2014|accessdate=18 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="abc20140418">{{cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasas-moon-orbiting-robot-crashes-23375574|title=NASA's Moon-Orbiting Robot Crashes Down as Planned|work=ABC News|first=Marcia|last=Dunn|date=18 April 2014|accessdate=18 April 2014}}</ref> which, later, was determined to be near the eastern rim of ].<ref name="NASA-20141028-NNJ">{{cite web |last=Neal-Jones |first=Nancy |title=NASA’s LRO Spacecraft Captures Images of LADEE’s Impact Crater |url=http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-s-lro-spacecraft-captures-images-of-ladee-s-impact-crater |date=28 October 2014 |work=] |accessdate=28 October 2014 }}</ref><ref name="nasa20140418">{{cite news|url=http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/april/nasa-completes-ladee-mission-with-planned-impact-on-moons-surface/|title=NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface|work=NASA.gov|first1=Dwayne|last1=Brown|first2=Rachel|last2=Hoover|first3=Dewayne|last3=Washington|date=18 April 2014|id=Release 14–113|accessdate=18 April 2014}}</ref>

== 21st century unmanned soft landings ==

=== Chang'e 3 (China) ===
On 14 December 2013 at 13:12 UTC<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25356603 |title=China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon |date=14 December 2013 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> ] ] a ] on the Moon. This was the first lunar soft landing since ] on 22 August 1976.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-successfully-completes-first-soft-landing-on-moon-in-37-years/2013/12/14/fad6ffb4-64c6-11e3-af0d-4bb80d704888_story.html| author=Simon Denyer| title=China carries out first soft landing on moon in 37 years| publisher=Washington Post| date=14 December 2013}}</ref>

== Landings on moons of other Solar System bodies ==
Progress in ] has recently broadened the phrase ''moon landing'' to include other moons in the ] as well. The ] of the '']'' mission to ] performed a successful unmanned moon landing on ] in 2005. Similarly, the Soviet probe ] came within {{convert|120|mi|km|abbr=on}} of performing an unmanned moon landing on ]' moon ] in 1989 before radio contact with that lander was suddenly lost. A similar Russian sample return mission called ] ("grunt" means "soil" in Russian) launched in November 2011, but stalled in low-earth orbit. There is widespread interest in performing a future moon landing on ]'s ] to drill down and explore the possible liquid water ocean beneath its icy surface.

== Proposed future missions ==
], lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed ] during an Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.]]

{{Main|List of proposed missions to the Moon}}
China is planning to land another rover and collect samples in the ] mission and ] by 2018 in the ] mission.<ref>{{Cite web|title=China to Launch Lunar Probe Chang'e-2 before 2011 |url=http://english.cas.ac.cn/eng2003/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=27849 |publisher=english.cas.ac.cn |accessdate=29 September 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

], the Indian National Space agency, is planning a second version of Chandrayaan named ]. According to former ISRO Chairman ], "The ] (ISRO) hopes to land two rovers – one Indian and another Russian – on the Moon in 2018, as a part of its second ] mission. The rover will be designed to move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do on-site chemical analysis and send the data to the mother-spacecraft Chandrayaan II, which will be orbiting above. Chandrayaan II will transmit the data to Earth." The payloads have already been finalized.<ref>{{cite news | last = Johnson | title = Three new Indian payloads for Chandrayaan 2,&nbsp;decides ISRO | date = 31 August 2010 | url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Three-new-Indian-payloads-for-Chandrayaan-2--decides-ISRO/674662 | work = The Indian Express | accessdate =31 August 2010}}</ref><ref name=payload>{{cite news|title=Payloads for Chandrayaan-2 Mission Finalised |date=30 August 2010 |publisher=ISRO |url=http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Aug30_2010 |work=Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) |accessdate=2 September 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015032050/http://isro.gov.in/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Aug30_2010 |archivedate=15 October 2012 |df= }}</ref> ISRO has mentioned that due to weight restrictions it will not be carrying any overseas payloads on this mission. The lander weight is projected to be 1,250&nbsp;kg, and the spacecraft will be launched by the ].

Russia's ] is expected to be launched in 2018.<ref name=launch2018>{{cite web|url=http://ria.ru/space/20141003/1026822990.html|title=ИКИ: РФ начнет запуск автоматических станций к Луне в 2018 году|publisher=}}</ref> In 2007 the head of the Russian Space Agency announced plans to send cosmonauts to the Moon by 2025 and establish a permanent robotically operated base there in 2027–2032.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lavochkin begins phase B work for Luna-Glob 1 orbiter|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/10/14/317424/lavochkin-begins-phase-b-work-for-luna-glob-1-orbiter.html|publisher=http://www.flightglobal.com|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref> In 2015, Roscosmos stated that Russia plans to place a cosmonaut on the Moon by 2030, leaving Mars to NASA. The purpose is to work jointly with NASA and avoid another ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/russia-place-man-moon-by-2030-leaving-mars-nasa-1508202|title=Russia to place man on Moon by 2030 leaving Mars to Nasa|first=Jayalakshmi|last=K|date=27 June 2015|publisher=}}</ref>

The ] (LPRP) is a program of ] missions which ] will use to prepare for future Moon landings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moon.msfc.nasa.gov/ |title=Lunar Precursor Robotic Program |publisher=NASA |accessdate=26 February 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421120647/http://moon.msfc.nasa.gov/ |archivedate=21 April 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref> Three orbiters have been launched in the program, the ] (LRO), the ] (LCROSS), and the ] (LADEE), launched in 2013, but no Moon landings are scheduled yet.

The ] competition offers a $20&nbsp;million award for the first privately funded team to land a robotic probe on the Moon. Like the ] before it, the competition aims to advance the state of the art in private space exploration.<ref>{{cite news
|url =http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/about-the-prize
|title =About Google Lunar X prize
|accessdate =10 September 2009}}</ref> Of the several competing teams, ] at one time (2012) planned to launch in 2014<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.pulispace.com/en/about/our-mission
|title=Our Mission
|date=4 September 2010
|accessdate=29 January 2012
|work=Puli Space Technologies
|deadurl=yes
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103142810/http://www.pulispace.com/en/about/our-mission
|archivedate=3 January 2012
|df=dmy
}}</ref>{{update after|2015|3|6}}<!-- this is clearly out-of-date information (now past in time) from a primary source website; do we have any sign of Puli spending money and signing launch contracts for this trip, in any year -->
and ] plans to launch in the second half of 2016 with their own rover plus another team's lunar rovers from ].<ref name=glxp20150223>
{{cite web |title=Two Google Lunar XPRIZE Teams Announce Rideshare Partnership For Mission To The Moon In 2016 |url=http://lunar.xprize.org/press-release/two-google-lunar-xprize-teams-announce-rideshare-partnership-mission-moon-2016 |website=xprize.org |publisher=Xprize Foundation |accessdate=6 March 2015 |date=23 February 2015 |quote=''Hakuto Astrobotic carry a pair of rovers to the moon. Astrobotic plans to launch its Google Lunar XPRIZE mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., during the second half of 2016. HAKUTO’s twin rovers, Moonraker and Tetris, will piggyback on Astrobotic's Griffin lander to reach the lunar surface. Upon touchdown, the rovers will be released simultaneously ... in pursuit of the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE Grand Prize.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/27/race-to-mine-moon-heats-up/ |title=Race to Mine the Moon Heats Up |author=Loren Grush |date=27 October 2011|accessdate=29 January 2012|publisher= ]}}</ref>

== Historical empirical evidence ==
{{Main|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}
Many conspiracy theorists hold that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax;<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/photogalleries/apollo-moon-landing-hoax-pictures/ | title = Photos: 8 Moon-Landing Hoax Myths—Busted | accessdate =17 July 2014 | date = 16 July 2009 | publisher = ]}}</ref> however, ] evidence is readily available to show that ]. Anyone on Earth with an appropriate ] and ] system can bounce laser beams off three ] arrays left on the Moon by Apollo 11,<ref> 20 July 2004.</ref> 14 and 15, verifying deployment of the ] at historically documented Apollo Moon landing sites and so proving equipment constructed on Earth was successfully transported to the surface of the Moon. In addition, in August 2009 NASA's ] began to send back high resolution photos of the Apollo landing sites. These photos show not only the large Descent Stages of the lunar landers left behind but also tracks of the astronauts' walking paths in the lunar dust.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html | title = LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites | accessdate =2 July 2011 | date = 17 July 2009 | publisher = ]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal| Spaceflight }}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
*]

== References and notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
* on moon landings, missions, etc. (includes information on other space agencies' missions.)
* {{dmoz|Society/History/By_Topic/Exploration/Space/United_States/Moon_Missions|Moon missions (United States)}}
* : an independently organized collection of high-res photos for the Moon Landing and the Apollo Missions.

{{Moon spacecraft}}
{{Manned lunar spacecraft}}
{{People who have walked on the Moon}}
{{The Moon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Landing}}
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Revision as of 15:17, 18 September 2017

the moon landing was fake.