 |
| Lunar photo by Humanoido at Singularity Observatory |
It was a long and difficult path to Moon from the 1950s through the 1970s with many spacecraft failures and successes, including the story of the American Ranger series.
The Ranger series from one through six all failed their primary mission objectives. Some even failed to hit the Moon and others had camera and equipment failures. Finally with Rangers 7, 8 and 9, great success was achieved with the return of 17,259 photos. The ranger series was designed to start taking photos and then crash into the Moon.
Missions to the Moon
Luna - USSR 25 June 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Thor-Able 1 (Pioneer) - USA 17 August 1958
Launch failure (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 23 September 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 1 - USA 11 October 1958
Set distance record, failed to reach Moon, reentered 12 Oct 1958 (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 12 October 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 2 - USA 08 November 1958
3rd stage ignition failure (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 04 December 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 3 - USA 06 December 1958
Provided radiation data, failed to reach Moon, reentered 07Dec1958 (Thor-Able)
Luna 1 - USSR 02 January 1959
Passed within 5998 km of Moon, in 0.977 × 1.314 × 0.01 ° (450-day) solar orbit
Pioneer 4 - USA 03 March 1959
Passed within 60030 km of Moon, in 0.987 × 1.142 × 1.30 ° solar orbit
Luna - USSR 18 June 1959
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Luna 2 - USSR 12 September 1959
First manmade object to impact moon on 15 Sep 1959 at 29.10 N x 0.00 E near Palus Putredinus
Luna 3 - USSR 04 October 1959
First probe to photograph lunar Farside, for 40 mins, reentered 29 Apr 1960
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 4B) - USA 26 November 1959
Shroud failure (Atlas-Able)
Luna 4 - USSR 12 April 1960
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5A) - USA 25 September 1960
2nd stage failure (Atlas-Able). Pieces recovered in S.Africa
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5B) - USA 15 December 1960
Exploded 70 sec. after liftoff (Atlas-Able)
Ranger 1 - USA 23 August 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, died 30 Aug 1961 (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 2 - USA 18 November 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, reentered 20Nov1961 (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 3 - USA 26 January 1962
Missed Moon by 36793 km, in solar orbit (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 4 - USA 23 April 1962
Impacted Moon on 26 Apr 1962, timer failure, experiments inoperative
Ranger 5 - USA 18 October 1962
Missed Moon by 724 km, in 0.95 × 1.05 AU solar orbit
Sputnik 25 - USSR 04 January 1963
TLI stage failure? (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 05 Jan 1963
Luna - USSR 03 February 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna - USSR 03 March 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna 4 - USSR 02 April 1963
Probe missed Luna by 8499 km, in barycentric orbit
name? - USSR 10 July 1963
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Ranger 6 - USA 30 January 1964
Impacted Moon on 02 February 1964, TV camera failure
Luna - USSR 21 March 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna (Lunik 1?) - USSR 20 April 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna (Lunik 2?) - USSR 04 June 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Ranger 7 - USA 28 July 1964
First Ranger success. Returned 4308 photos. Impacted Moon on 31 Jul 1964
Ranger 8 - USA 17 February 1965
Returned 7137 closeup photos. Impacted Moon on 20 Feb 1965 in Mare Tranquillitatis
Kosmos 60 (Lunik 3) - USSR 12 March 1965
Upper TLI stage failure (SL-6 Molniya), reentered
Ranger 9 - USA 21 March 1965
Returned 5814 photos. Impacted Moon on 24 Mar 1965 at approx 14 S × 3 W inside crater Alphonsus
Luna (Lunik 4) - USSR 10 April 1965
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Lunik 5 - USSR 09 May 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, impacted on 12 May 1965 in Mare Nubium
Lunik 6 - USSR 08 June 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, missed Moon by 160,935 km, in solar orbit
Zond 3 - USSR 18 July 1965
Retransmitted photos taken during lunar flyby, testbed for later Martian probes, in barycentric orbit
Surveyor Model 1 - USA 11 August 1965
Model launched to simulated Moon
Luna 7 - USSR 04 October 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired early, crashed on 07 Oct 1965 in Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 8 - USSR 03 December 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired late, crashed on 06 Dec 1965 in Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 9 - USSR 31 January 1966
First soft landing success on 03 Feb 1966 at 7.08 N × 54.37 W, west of Crater Reiner in Oceanus Procellarum, 100 kg descent capsule returned surface pix for 3 days
Kosmos 111 - USSR 1 March 1966
Upper TLI stage failure (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 03 Mar 1966
Luna 10 - USSR 31 March 1966
Orbiter successfully returned data until 30 May 1966, in lunar orbit
Surveyor 1 - USA 30 May 1966
Soft landing success on 02Jun1966 at xx N x yyy W in Oceanus Procellarum, tx'd 11,150 pix until 13 Jul 1966
Explorer 33 - USA 1 July 1966
Overshot lunar orbit (Thor-Agena-Delta), in high earth orbit
Lunar Orbiter 1 - USA 10 August 1966
Transmitted pix until 29 Aug 1966; impacted on 29 Oct 1966
Luna 11 - USSR 24 August 1966
Orbiter successfully returned sci data until 01 Oct 1966, in lunar orbit?
Surveyor 2 - USA 20 September 1966
Vernier failed; crashed on 23 Sep 1966
Luna 12 - USSR 22 October 1966
Orbiter successfully returned photos & data, in lunar orbit
Lunar Orbiter 2 - USA 06 November 1966
Transmitted 205 frames; impacted on 11 Oct 1967
Luna 13 (Lunik 13?) - USSR 21 December 1966
Soft landing on 24 Dec 1966 at 18.87 N x 62.05 W, tx'd photos & soil data
Lunar Orbiter 3 - USA 05 February 1967
Transmitted 182 frames; impacted on 09 Oct 1967
Kosmos 146 - USSR 10 March 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Successful test in LEO. Reentered 18 Mar 1967
Kosmos 154 - USSR 08 April 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Separation failure in LEO. Reentered 10 Apr 1967
Surveyor 3 - USA 17 April 1967
Soft landing on 20 Apr 1967 near 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, site of Apollo 12 landing 2-1/2 years later. Tx'd photos & soil experiments until 03 May 1967
Lunar Orbiter 4 - USA 04 May 1967
Transmitted 163 frames; impacted on 06 Oct 1967
Surveyor 4 - USA 14 July 1967
Lost contact 150 sec. before crashing on 17 Jul 1967
Lunar Orbiter 5 - USA 01 August 1967
Transmitted frames; impacted on 31 Jan 1968; end of mapping pgm
Surveyor 5 - USA 08 September 1967
Soft landing on 11 Sep 1967, tx'd 19,000 photos & soil analysis
name? Zond (-3?) - USSR 27 September 1967
(date may be wrong, not corroborated in Proton Manual. Launch failure (SL-12 Proton). Was this a lunar attempt? "Zond-2" designator already earmarked for Mars '64, "Zond-3" for Luna in '65
Surveyor 6 - USA 07 November 1967
Soft landing on 10 Nov 1967, first rocket takeoff from Moon
Apollo 4 - USA 09 November 1967
First flight of Apollo+Saturn V booster, reentered 09 Nov 1967
Zond (4A or L1#5L) - USSR 22 November 1967
Flyby attempt. 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Surveyor 7 - USA 07 January 1968
Soft landing on 10 Jan 1968, Surveyor pgm ends
Apollo 5 - USA 22 January 1968
First all-up test with uprated Saturn 1, unmanned, ascent & descent stage tests, lunar module flight test, AS reentered 24 Jan 1968, DS reentered 12 Feb 1968
Luna 14-1 - USSR 07 February 1968
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Zond 4 (L1 #6L?) - USSR 02 March 1968
Manned precursor (SL-12 Proton), in translunar orbit
Apollo 6 - USA 04 April 1968
Unmanned command module test with Saturn V, despite 1st stage pogo & loss of 2 engines on same side, 2nd stage malf, 3rd stage restart failure, CM reentered 04 Apr 1968
Luna 14 - USSR 07 April 1968
Earth-moon mass & gravity study, in lunar orbit
Zond (Heavy Soyuz/Zond or L1 #7L) - USSR 22 April 1968
Manned lunar precursor?, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Zond 5 - USSR 14 September 1968
First lunar flyaround, reentered 21 Sep 1968, recovered in Indian Ocean
Apollo 7 - USA 11 October 1968
First manned Apollo flight (Schirra, Cunningham, Eisele) on Saturn 1B with CM & SM, 163 earth orbits, reentered 22 Oct 1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean
Zond 6 - USSR 10 November 1968
Second unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, capsule depressurized during return, double dip reentry with aero lifting, chute failed, crash landed in USSR 17 Nov 1968
Apollo 8 - USA 21 December 1968
First manned circumlunar flight (Borman, Lovell, Anders), on Saturn V, no LM, 10 lunar orbits, reentered 27 Dec 1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 15A - USSR 20 January 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
N-1 #3L - USSR 21 February 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+69 sec. See Ed Cameron's N-1 page
Apollo 9 - USA 03 March 1969
First flight of LM (+CM & SM) on Saturn V, redocking (McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart), reentered 13 Mar 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean
Apollo 10 - USA 18 May 1969
Second manned circumlunar flight (Stafford, Young, Cernan) on Saturn V, approached 15 km, reentered 26 May 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 15B - USSR 04 June 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Luna (?) - USSR 14 June 1969
Launch failure from Tyuratam (SL-?)
N-1 #5L - USSR 03 July 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+0.25 sec. destroying launch facility. Docking mission of Manned Heavy Soyuz on SL-13 (D-1 or Proton) for same day 03 Jul 1969 scrubbed
Luna 15C - USSR 13 July 1969
Attempted sample return? or manned precursor? crash landing on 21 Jul 1969 in Mare Crisium, after 52 orbits and 2 burns
Apollo 11 - USA 16 July 1969
First human landing on the Moon 2017 UT 20 Jul 1969 (Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin in LM, Michael Collins in CM) at 0.71 N × 23.63 E in Mare Tranquillitatis, 2:56 hr EVA, 21.6 hr on surface, 30 orbits, reentered 24 Jul 1969 w/21.7 kg of lunar rocks, recovered in Pacific Ocean. EALSEP science station returned data until Sep 1969
Zond 7 - USSR 07 August 1969
3rd Soviet unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, reentered & landed in USSR 14 Aug 1969
Kosmos 300 (ASR Luna 16A) - USSR 23 September 1969
Automated sample return, 3rd/4th stage separation failure, stages & payload reentered 27 Sep 1969
Kosmos 305 (Luna 16B Rover) - USSR 22 October 1969
Lunar lander and rover, 4th escape stage fired wrong vector, stage & payload reentered 24 Oct 1969
Apollo 12 - USA 14 November 1969
Second human landing on the Moon on19 Nov 1969 (Pete Conrad & ALan Bean in LM, Richard Gordon in CM) at 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, very close to site of Surveyor 3. 2 EVAs, 31.6 hr on surface, reentered 24 Nov 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 34.4 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP12 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Luna (LK?) - USSR 28 November 1969
Soviet L-1E lunar module first test flight. 2nd stage failure (SL-13 Proton)
ASR Luna 16C - USSR 06 February 1970
1st stage failure; range safety destruct (SL-12 Proton). Also test of L-1E module
Apollo 13 - USA 11 April 1970
Explosion of oxygen tank in SM aborted mission (James Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise), reentered after circumlunar flight 17 Apr 1970, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 16D - USSR 12 September 1970
Lander touched down on 20 Sep 1970 at 0.41 S × 56.3 E in Mare Fecunditatis, returned 105 gram soil sample. See a video of the Soviet ASR probe landing with retrorockets, scooping up a soil sample, and blasting off again on our Russians in Space v2.1
Zond 8 - USSR 20 October 1970
Flew by Moon, reentered 27 Oct 1970
Luna 17 - USSR 10 November 1970
Lunokhod-1 rover and lander set down on 17 Nov 1970 @ 38.28 N x 35 W in Mare Imbrium, traversed 80 km over 11 months, tx'd 200 pans, 20,000+ pix, soil analyses
Kosmos 379 - USSR 24 November 1970
Successful test of Soviet T2K lander minus legs in LEO on SL-13 Proton D-1 Reentered 21 Sep 1983
Kosmos 382 - USSR 02 December 1970
Prototype Soviet lunar orbiter LK flight test on SL-13 Proton D-1. Modified Zond and flight qual for Blok D stage. In 2464 km × 5189 km × 55.9 ° earth orbit
Apollo 14 - USA 31 January 1971
Third human landing on the Moon on 05 Feb 1971 (Alan Shepard & Edgar Mitchell in LM, Stuart Roosa in CM) at 3.67 S × 17.46 W at Fra Mauro, EVAs, played first round of lunar golf, reentered 09 Feb 1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 42.9 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP14 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Kosmos 398 - USSR 26 February 1971
Second unmanned test of Soviet lunar lander T2K on SL-13 Proton D-1 booster, reentered 10 Dec 1995
N-1 #6L - USSR 27 June (or July) 1971
1st stage launch failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) carrying mockups of LK & T2K at T+51 sec.
Apollo 15 - USA 26 July 1971
Fourth human landing on the Moon on 30 Jul 1971 (David Scott & James Irwin in LM, Alfred Worden in CM) at 26.11 N × 3.66 E at Hadley Rille near lunar Appenines. First manned lunar rover, roving EVAs + 1 EVA on return trajectory, traversed 11.2 km in ? hr on surface. Reentered 07 Aug 1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 76.8 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP15 science station on surface returned data until 01 Oct 1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 04Aug1971, data return until Jul 1972, in lunar orbit. For more details, see The Apollo 15 Flight Journal. The AFJ is a companion to the ALSJ and records the flight of Apollo 15 using air/ground transcripts, commentary and photographs.
Kosmos 434 - USSR 12 August 1971
Test of manned lunar hdwe T2K on SL-4 Soyuz booster, reentered 12Aug1981
Luna 18 - USSR 02 September 1971
Objective? impacted after 54 orbits on 11Sep1971 at 3.57 N x 50.5 E in Mare Fecunditatis
Luna 19 - USSR 28 September 1971
Orbiter returned lunar photos, in lunar orbit
Luna 20 - USSR 14 February 1972
Lander & automated sample return set down @ 3 ° 32 min N × 56 ° 33 min E near Apollonius in Mare Fecunditatis. Capsule & 55 gram (or 30 g) soil sample recovered 25 Feb 1972
Apollo 16 - USA 16 April 1972
Fifth human landing on the Moon on 23 Apr 1972 (John Young & Charles Duke in LM, T.K. Mattingly in CM) at 9.00 S × 16.00 E at Descartes crater, roving EVAs on surface + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 71 hr on surface, reentered 27 Apr 1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 94.7 kg samples. ALSEP16 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 24 Apr 1972, impacted 29 May 1972
N-1 #7L - USSR 23 November 1972
Erroneous range safety destruct of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+107 sec during 1st stage fire, 2nd stage probably was OK. End of N-1 program
Apollo 17 - USA 07 December 1972
Sixth and last human landing on the Moon on 15 Dec 1972 (Gene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt in LM, Ronald Evans in CM) at 20.17 N × 30.75 E at Taurus Littrow, roving EVAs on surface for 30.5 km (longest = 7:37 hr) + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 75 hr on surface, found Genesis rock, reentered 19 Dec 1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 110.5 kg samples. ALSEP17 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Luna 21 - USSR 08 January 1973
Lunokhod-2 rover set down on 15 Jan 1973 @ approx 25.85 N × 30.45 E in Mare Serenitatis near Le Monnier crater-ring, traversed 37 km for five months, returned 80,000+ pix.
Explorer 49 - USA 10 June 1973
Radioastronomy Explorer B in lunar orbit. (probably a deep space mission so located for radio silence)
Mariner 10 - USA 03 November 1973
Flyby of the Moon, returned pix, on way to flyby of Venus in 1974 and three flybys of Mercury in 1974, in solar orbit
Luna 22 - USSR 29 May 1974
Lunar probe, in orbit
Luna 23 - USSR 28 October 1974
Impacted in Mare Crisium on 06Nov1974
ASR Luna 24A - USSR 16 October 1975
4th stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Luna 24B - USSR 09 August 1976
Last Soviet/Russian lunar mission. Lander & automated sample return set down @ 12.75 N × 62.20 E in Mare Crisium. Returned 170 grams & recovered 18 Aug 1976
Galileo - USA 18 October 1989
Robotic interplanetary probe on circuitous six-year trajectory with multiple gravity assists, launch delayed by Challenger disaster, launched from Shuttle Atlantis in LEO (STS-34) on IUS, high gain antenna failed, data tx on low gain
Flew by Venus once on 09 Feb 1990
Flew by Earth/Moon system twice during gravity assists in 08 Dec 1990 and 08 Dec 1992 on trajectory to Jupiter, discovered Aitken Basin on South Pole (largest impact basin in solar system)
Flew thru asteroid belt twice in 1991 and 1993
Active in circumjovian orbit
Muses A (Hiten) - Japan 24 January 1990
Probe flew by Moon 15 Mar 1990, reentered (Earth) 11 Apr 1993
Hagoromo - Japan 19 March 1994
Deployed from Muses A, contact lost after separation, in lunar orbit
Clementine 1 - USA 25 January 1994
Lunar mapper entered orbit 19 Feb 1994; detected possible signs of water at poles, spun out of control during burn to intercept near Earth asteroid 1620 Geographos on 07 May 1994, died, in solar orbit
Wind - USA 01 November 1994
Solar wind monitor. In 0.567 x 1.62 million km x 21.8 ° "distant prograde earth orbit". 32nd lunar flyby @ 7600 km on 19 Aug 2000. Science return from Moon
HGS-1 (was AsiaSat 3S) - USA 24 December 1997
Comsat stranded in useless transfer orbit by 4th stage malfunction (SL-12 Proton). Repurchased by builder, successfully rescued via double lunar flyby using new resonant orbital hopping theory. In GEO. Data returned from lunar flyby
Lunar Prospector - USA 07 January 1998
Mapped gravity & elemental distribution inc. hydrogen (water) with magnetometer, and alpha, gamma, & neutron spectrometers from low polar orbit; impacted on 31 Jul 1999 near the south pole. First human burial (sample of Gene Shoemaker's ashes) on another celestial body
Nozomi (Planet B) - Japan 03 July 1998
Orbiter will arrive 4 years late in Sep 2003 due to wrong burn during second slingshot by Moon. Data returned from lunar flyby
Missions to the Moon
Luna - USSR 25 June 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Thor-Able 1 (Pioneer) - USA 17 August 1958
Launch failure (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 23 September 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 1 - USA 11 October 1958
Set distance record, failed to reach Moon, reentered 12 Oct 1958 (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 12 October 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 2 - USA 08 November 1958
3rd stage ignition failure (Thor-Able)
Luna - USSR 04 December 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer 3 - USA 06 December 1958
Provided radiation data, failed to reach Moon, reentered 07Dec1958 (Thor-Able)
Luna 1 - USSR 02 January 1959
Passed within 5998 km of Moon, in 0.977 × 1.314 × 0.01 ° (450-day) solar orbit
Pioneer 4 - USA 03 March 1959
Passed within 60030 km of Moon, in 0.987 × 1.142 × 1.30 ° solar orbit
Luna - USSR 18 June 1959
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Luna 2 - USSR 12 September 1959
First manmade object to impact moon on 15 Sep 1959 at 29.10 N x 0.00 E near Palus Putredinus
Luna 3 - USSR 04 October 1959
First probe to photograph lunar Farside, for 40 mins, reentered 29 Apr 1960
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 4B) - USA 26 November 1959
Shroud failure (Atlas-Able)
Luna 4 - USSR 12 April 1960
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5A) - USA 25 September 1960
2nd stage failure (Atlas-Able). Pieces recovered in S.Africa
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5B) - USA 15 December 1960
Exploded 70 sec. after liftoff (Atlas-Able)
Ranger 1 - USA 23 August 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, died 30 Aug 1961 (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 2 - USA 18 November 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, reentered 20Nov1961 (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 3 - USA 26 January 1962
Missed Moon by 36793 km, in solar orbit (Atlas-Agena B)
Ranger 4 - USA 23 April 1962
Impacted Moon on 26 Apr 1962, timer failure, experiments inoperative
Ranger 5 - USA 18 October 1962
Missed Moon by 724 km, in 0.95 × 1.05 AU solar orbit
Sputnik 25 - USSR 04 January 1963
TLI stage failure? (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 05 Jan 1963
Luna - USSR 03 February 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna - USSR 03 March 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna 4 - USSR 02 April 1963
Probe missed Luna by 8499 km, in barycentric orbit
name? - USSR 10 July 1963
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna)
Ranger 6 - USA 30 January 1964
Impacted Moon on 02 February 1964, TV camera failure
Luna - USSR 21 March 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna (Lunik 1?) - USSR 20 April 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Luna (Lunik 2?) - USSR 04 June 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Ranger 7 - USA 28 July 1964
First Ranger success. Returned 4308 photos. Impacted Moon on 31 Jul 1964
Ranger 8 - USA 17 February 1965
Returned 7137 closeup photos. Impacted Moon on 20 Feb 1965 in Mare Tranquillitatis
Kosmos 60 (Lunik 3) - USSR 12 March 1965
Upper TLI stage failure (SL-6 Molniya), reentered
Ranger 9 - USA 21 March 1965
Returned 5814 photos. Impacted Moon on 24 Mar 1965 at approx 14 S × 3 W inside crater Alphonsus
Luna (Lunik 4) - USSR 10 April 1965
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya)
Lunik 5 - USSR 09 May 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, impacted on 12 May 1965 in Mare Nubium
Lunik 6 - USSR 08 June 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, missed Moon by 160,935 km, in solar orbit
Zond 3 - USSR 18 July 1965
Retransmitted photos taken during lunar flyby, testbed for later Martian probes, in barycentric orbit
Surveyor Model 1 - USA 11 August 1965
Model launched to simulated Moon
Luna 7 - USSR 04 October 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired early, crashed on 07 Oct 1965 in Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 8 - USSR 03 December 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired late, crashed on 06 Dec 1965 in Oceanus Procellarum
Luna 9 - USSR 31 January 1966
First soft landing success on 03 Feb 1966 at 7.08 N × 54.37 W, west of Crater Reiner in Oceanus Procellarum, 100 kg descent capsule returned surface pix for 3 days
Kosmos 111 - USSR 1 March 1966
Upper TLI stage failure (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 03 Mar 1966
Luna 10 - USSR 31 March 1966
Orbiter successfully returned data until 30 May 1966, in lunar orbit
Surveyor 1 - USA 30 May 1966
Soft landing success on 02Jun1966 at xx N x yyy W in Oceanus Procellarum, tx'd 11,150 pix until 13 Jul 1966
Explorer 33 - USA 1 July 1966
Overshot lunar orbit (Thor-Agena-Delta), in high earth orbit
Lunar Orbiter 1 - USA 10 August 1966
Transmitted pix until 29 Aug 1966; impacted on 29 Oct 1966
Luna 11 - USSR 24 August 1966
Orbiter successfully returned sci data until 01 Oct 1966, in lunar orbit?
Surveyor 2 - USA 20 September 1966
Vernier failed; crashed on 23 Sep 1966
Luna 12 - USSR 22 October 1966
Orbiter successfully returned photos & data, in lunar orbit
Lunar Orbiter 2 - USA 06 November 1966
Transmitted 205 frames; impacted on 11 Oct 1967
Luna 13 (Lunik 13?) - USSR 21 December 1966
Soft landing on 24 Dec 1966 at 18.87 N x 62.05 W, tx'd photos & soil data
Lunar Orbiter 3 - USA 05 February 1967
Transmitted 182 frames; impacted on 09 Oct 1967
Kosmos 146 - USSR 10 March 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Successful test in LEO. Reentered 18 Mar 1967
Kosmos 154 - USSR 08 April 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Separation failure in LEO. Reentered 10 Apr 1967
Surveyor 3 - USA 17 April 1967
Soft landing on 20 Apr 1967 near 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, site of Apollo 12 landing 2-1/2 years later. Tx'd photos & soil experiments until 03 May 1967
Lunar Orbiter 4 - USA 04 May 1967
Transmitted 163 frames; impacted on 06 Oct 1967
Surveyor 4 - USA 14 July 1967
Lost contact 150 sec. before crashing on 17 Jul 1967
Lunar Orbiter 5 - USA 01 August 1967
Transmitted frames; impacted on 31 Jan 1968; end of mapping pgm
Surveyor 5 - USA 08 September 1967
Soft landing on 11 Sep 1967, tx'd 19,000 photos & soil analysis
name? Zond (-3?) - USSR 27 September 1967
(date may be wrong, not corroborated in Proton Manual. Launch failure (SL-12 Proton). Was this a lunar attempt? "Zond-2" designator already earmarked for Mars '64, "Zond-3" for Luna in '65
Surveyor 6 - USA 07 November 1967
Soft landing on 10 Nov 1967, first rocket takeoff from Moon
Apollo 4 - USA 09 November 1967
First flight of Apollo+Saturn V booster, reentered 09 Nov 1967
Zond (4A or L1#5L) - USSR 22 November 1967
Flyby attempt. 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Surveyor 7 - USA 07 January 1968
Soft landing on 10 Jan 1968, Surveyor pgm ends
Apollo 5 - USA 22 January 1968
First all-up test with uprated Saturn 1, unmanned, ascent & descent stage tests, lunar module flight test, AS reentered 24 Jan 1968, DS reentered 12 Feb 1968
Luna 14-1 - USSR 07 February 1968
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Zond 4 (L1 #6L?) - USSR 02 March 1968
Manned precursor (SL-12 Proton), in translunar orbit
Apollo 6 - USA 04 April 1968
Unmanned command module test with Saturn V, despite 1st stage pogo & loss of 2 engines on same side, 2nd stage malf, 3rd stage restart failure, CM reentered 04 Apr 1968
Luna 14 - USSR 07 April 1968
Earth-moon mass & gravity study, in lunar orbit
Zond (Heavy Soyuz/Zond or L1 #7L) - USSR 22 April 1968
Manned lunar precursor?, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Zond 5 - USSR 14 September 1968
First lunar flyaround, reentered 21 Sep 1968, recovered in Indian Ocean
Apollo 7 - USA 11 October 1968
First manned Apollo flight (Schirra, Cunningham, Eisele) on Saturn 1B with CM & SM, 163 earth orbits, reentered 22 Oct 1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean
Zond 6 - USSR 10 November 1968
Second unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, capsule depressurized during return, double dip reentry with aero lifting, chute failed, crash landed in USSR 17 Nov 1968
Apollo 8 - USA 21 December 1968
First manned circumlunar flight (Borman, Lovell, Anders), on Saturn V, no LM, 10 lunar orbits, reentered 27 Dec 1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 15A - USSR 20 January 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
N-1 #3L - USSR 21 February 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+69 sec. See Ed Cameron's N-1 page
Apollo 9 - USA 03 March 1969
First flight of LM (+CM & SM) on Saturn V, redocking (McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart), reentered 13 Mar 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean
Apollo 10 - USA 18 May 1969
Second manned circumlunar flight (Stafford, Young, Cernan) on Saturn V, approached 15 km, reentered 26 May 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 15B - USSR 04 June 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Luna (?) - USSR 14 June 1969
Launch failure from Tyuratam (SL-?)
N-1 #5L - USSR 03 July 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+0.25 sec. destroying launch facility. Docking mission of Manned Heavy Soyuz on SL-13 (D-1 or Proton) for same day 03 Jul 1969 scrubbed
Luna 15C - USSR 13 July 1969
Attempted sample return? or manned precursor? crash landing on 21 Jul 1969 in Mare Crisium, after 52 orbits and 2 burns
Apollo 11 - USA 16 July 1969
First human landing on the Moon 2017 UT 20 Jul 1969 (Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin in LM, Michael Collins in CM) at 0.71 N × 23.63 E in Mare Tranquillitatis, 2:56 hr EVA, 21.6 hr on surface, 30 orbits, reentered 24 Jul 1969 w/21.7 kg of lunar rocks, recovered in Pacific Ocean. EALSEP science station returned data until Sep 1969
Zond 7 - USSR 07 August 1969
3rd Soviet unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, reentered & landed in USSR 14 Aug 1969
Kosmos 300 (ASR Luna 16A) - USSR 23 September 1969
Automated sample return, 3rd/4th stage separation failure, stages & payload reentered 27 Sep 1969
Kosmos 305 (Luna 16B Rover) - USSR 22 October 1969
Lunar lander and rover, 4th escape stage fired wrong vector, stage & payload reentered 24 Oct 1969
Apollo 12 - USA 14 November 1969
Second human landing on the Moon on19 Nov 1969 (Pete Conrad & ALan Bean in LM, Richard Gordon in CM) at 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, very close to site of Surveyor 3. 2 EVAs, 31.6 hr on surface, reentered 24 Nov 1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 34.4 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP12 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Luna (LK?) - USSR 28 November 1969
Soviet L-1E lunar module first test flight. 2nd stage failure (SL-13 Proton)
ASR Luna 16C - USSR 06 February 1970
1st stage failure; range safety destruct (SL-12 Proton). Also test of L-1E module
Apollo 13 - USA 11 April 1970
Explosion of oxygen tank in SM aborted mission (James Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise), reentered after circumlunar flight 17 Apr 1970, recovered in Pacific Ocean
ASR Luna 16D - USSR 12 September 1970
Lander touched down on 20 Sep 1970 at 0.41 S × 56.3 E in Mare Fecunditatis, returned 105 gram soil sample. See a video of the Soviet ASR probe landing with retrorockets, scooping up a soil sample, and blasting off again on our Russians in Space v2.1
Zond 8 - USSR 20 October 1970
Flew by Moon, reentered 27 Oct 1970
Luna 17 - USSR 10 November 1970
Lunokhod-1 rover and lander set down on 17 Nov 1970 @ 38.28 N x 35 W in Mare Imbrium, traversed 80 km over 11 months, tx'd 200 pans, 20,000+ pix, soil analyses
Kosmos 379 - USSR 24 November 1970
Successful test of Soviet T2K lander minus legs in LEO on SL-13 Proton D-1 Reentered 21 Sep 1983
Kosmos 382 - USSR 02 December 1970
Prototype Soviet lunar orbiter LK flight test on SL-13 Proton D-1. Modified Zond and flight qual for Blok D stage. In 2464 km × 5189 km × 55.9 ° earth orbit
Apollo 14 - USA 31 January 1971
Third human landing on the Moon on 05 Feb 1971 (Alan Shepard & Edgar Mitchell in LM, Stuart Roosa in CM) at 3.67 S × 17.46 W at Fra Mauro, EVAs, played first round of lunar golf, reentered 09 Feb 1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 42.9 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP14 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Kosmos 398 - USSR 26 February 1971
Second unmanned test of Soviet lunar lander T2K on SL-13 Proton D-1 booster, reentered 10 Dec 1995
N-1 #6L - USSR 27 June (or July) 1971
1st stage launch failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) carrying mockups of LK & T2K at T+51 sec.
Apollo 15 - USA 26 July 1971
Fourth human landing on the Moon on 30 Jul 1971 (David Scott & James Irwin in LM, Alfred Worden in CM) at 26.11 N × 3.66 E at Hadley Rille near lunar Appenines. First manned lunar rover, roving EVAs + 1 EVA on return trajectory, traversed 11.2 km in ? hr on surface. Reentered 07 Aug 1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 76.8 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP15 science station on surface returned data until 01 Oct 1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 04Aug1971, data return until Jul 1972, in lunar orbit. For more details, see The Apollo 15 Flight Journal. The AFJ is a companion to the ALSJ and records the flight of Apollo 15 using air/ground transcripts, commentary and photographs.
Kosmos 434 - USSR 12 August 1971
Test of manned lunar hdwe T2K on SL-4 Soyuz booster, reentered 12Aug1981
Luna 18 - USSR 02 September 1971
Objective? impacted after 54 orbits on 11Sep1971 at 3.57 N x 50.5 E in Mare Fecunditatis
Luna 19 - USSR 28 September 1971
Orbiter returned lunar photos, in lunar orbit
Luna 20 - USSR 14 February 1972
Lander & automated sample return set down @ 3 ° 32 min N × 56 ° 33 min E near Apollonius in Mare Fecunditatis. Capsule & 55 gram (or 30 g) soil sample recovered 25 Feb 1972
Apollo 16 - USA 16 April 1972
Fifth human landing on the Moon on 23 Apr 1972 (John Young & Charles Duke in LM, T.K. Mattingly in CM) at 9.00 S × 16.00 E at Descartes crater, roving EVAs on surface + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 71 hr on surface, reentered 27 Apr 1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 94.7 kg samples. ALSEP16 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 24 Apr 1972, impacted 29 May 1972
N-1 #7L - USSR 23 November 1972
Erroneous range safety destruct of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+107 sec during 1st stage fire, 2nd stage probably was OK. End of N-1 program
Apollo 17 - USA 07 December 1972
Sixth and last human landing on the Moon on 15 Dec 1972 (Gene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt in LM, Ronald Evans in CM) at 20.17 N × 30.75 E at Taurus Littrow, roving EVAs on surface for 30.5 km (longest = 7:37 hr) + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 75 hr on surface, found Genesis rock, reentered 19 Dec 1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 110.5 kg samples. ALSEP17 science station returned data until 01 Oct 1977
Luna 21 - USSR 08 January 1973
Lunokhod-2 rover set down on 15 Jan 1973 @ approx 25.85 N × 30.45 E in Mare Serenitatis near Le Monnier crater-ring, traversed 37 km for five months, returned 80,000+ pix.
Explorer 49 - USA 10 June 1973
Radioastronomy Explorer B in lunar orbit. (probably a deep space mission so located for radio silence)
Mariner 10 - USA 03 November 1973
Flyby of the Moon, returned pix, on way to flyby of Venus in 1974 and three flybys of Mercury in 1974, in solar orbit
Luna 22 - USSR 29 May 1974
Lunar probe, in orbit
Luna 23 - USSR 28 October 1974
Impacted in Mare Crisium on 06Nov1974
ASR Luna 24A - USSR 16 October 1975
4th stage failure (SL-12 Proton)
Luna 24B - USSR 09 August 1976
Last Soviet/Russian lunar mission. Lander & automated sample return set down @ 12.75 N × 62.20 E in Mare Crisium. Returned 170 grams & recovered 18 Aug 1976
Galileo - USA 18 October 1989
Robotic interplanetary probe on circuitous six-year trajectory with multiple gravity assists, launch delayed by Challenger disaster, launched from Shuttle Atlantis in LEO (STS-34) on IUS, high gain antenna failed, data tx on low gain
Flew by Venus once on 09 Feb 1990
Flew by Earth/Moon system twice during gravity assists in 08 Dec 1990 and 08 Dec 1992 on trajectory to Jupiter, discovered Aitken Basin on South Pole (largest impact basin in solar system)
Flew thru asteroid belt twice in 1991 and 1993
Active in circumjovian orbit
Muses A (Hiten) - Japan 24 January 1990
Probe flew by Moon 15 Mar 1990, reentered (Earth) 11 Apr 1993
Hagoromo - Japan 19 March 1994
Deployed from Muses A, contact lost after separation, in lunar orbit
Clementine 1 - USA 25 January 1994
Lunar mapper entered orbit 19 Feb 1994; detected possible signs of water at poles, spun out of control during burn to intercept near Earth asteroid 1620 Geographos on 07 May 1994, died, in solar orbit
Wind - USA 01 November 1994
Solar wind monitor. In 0.567 x 1.62 million km x 21.8 ° "distant prograde earth orbit". 32nd lunar flyby @ 7600 km on 19 Aug 2000. Science return from Moon
HGS-1 (was AsiaSat 3S) - USA 24 December 1997
Comsat stranded in useless transfer orbit by 4th stage malfunction (SL-12 Proton). Repurchased by builder, successfully rescued via double lunar flyby using new resonant orbital hopping theory. In GEO. Data returned from lunar flyby
Lunar Prospector - USA 07 January 1998
Mapped gravity & elemental distribution inc. hydrogen (water) with magnetometer, and alpha, gamma, & neutron spectrometers from low polar orbit; impacted on 31 Jul 1999 near the south pole. First human burial (sample of Gene Shoemaker's ashes) on another celestial body
Nozomi (Planet B) - Japan 03 July 1998
Orbiter will arrive 4 years late in Sep 2003 due to wrong burn during second slingshot by Moon. Data returned from lunar flyby
