The physicalexploration of the Moon began whenLuna 2, aspace probe launched by theSoviet Union, made adeliberate impact on the surface of theMoon on 14 September, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of lunar exploration had been observations from Earth. The invention of theoptical telescope brought about the first leap in the quality of lunar observations.Galileo Galilei is generally credited as the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes, having made his own telescope in 1609. The mountains and craters on thelunar surface were among his first observations.
Human exploration of the Moon since Luna 2 has consisted of both crewed and uncrewed missions.NASA'sApollo program has been the only program tosuccessfully land humans on the Moon, which it did six times on the near side in the late 20th century. The first human landing took place in 1969, when theApollo 11 astronautsBuzz Aldrin andNeil Armstrong touched down on the surface in the region ofMare Tranquillitatis, leaving scientific instruments upon the mission's completion and returninglunar samples to Earth.[1] All lunar missions had taken place on the lunarnear side until the first soft landing on thefar side of the Moon was made by theCNSA robotic spacecraftChang'e 4 in early 2019, which successfully deployed theYutu-2 robotic lunar rover.[2][3] On 25 June 2024, CNSA'sChang'e 6 conducted the first lunar sample return from the far side of the Moon.[4]
The goals of lunar exploration across all major space agencies focus on the continued survey of the lunar surface through lunar missions in preparation for the eventual establishment of permanent human outposts.[5]
It is believed by some that the oldestcave paintings from up to 40,000BP of bulls and geometric shapes,[6] or 20–30,000 year oldtally sticks were used to observe the phases of the Moon, keeping time using the waxing and waning ofthe Moon's phases.[7] Aspects of the Moon were identified and aggregated inlunar deities fromprehistoric times and were eventually documented and put into symbols from the very first instances ofwriting in the4th millennium BC.One of the earliest known possible depictions of the Moon is a 3,000 BCE rock carvingOrthostat 47 atKnowth, Ireland.[8][9] Thecrescent depicting the Moon as with the lunar deityNanna/Sin have been found from the 3rd millennium BCE.[10]
The oldest named astronomer and poetEnheduanna,Akkadian high priestess to the lunar deity Nanna/Sin and pricess, daughter ofSargon the Great (c. 2334 –c. 2279 BCE), had the Moon tracked in her chambers.[11] The oldest found and identified depiction of the Moon in an astronomical relation to other astronomical features is theNebra sky disc fromc. 1800–1600 BCE, depicting features like thePleiades next to the Moon.[12][13]
Theancient Greek philosopherAnaxagoras, whose non-religious view of the heavens was one cause for his imprisonment and eventual exile,[17] reasoned that the Sun and Moon were both giant spherical rocks, and that the latter reflected the light of the former.Plutarch, in his bookOn the Face in the Moon's Orb, suggested that the Moon had deep recesses in which the light of the Sun did not reach and that the spots are nothing but the shadows of rivers or deep chasms. He also entertained the possibility that the Moon was inhabited.Aristarchusattempted to compute the Moon's size and distance from Earth, although his estimated distance of 20 timesEarth's radius (which had been accurately determined by his contemporaryEratosthenes) proved to be about a third the actual average distance.
Chinese philosophers of theHan dynasty believed the Moon to be energy equated toqi but recognized that the light of the Moon was a reflection of the Sun.[18] Mathematician and astrologerJing Fang noted the sphericity of the Moon.[18]Shen Kuo of theSong dynasty created an allegory equating the waxing and waning of the Moon to a round ball of reflective silver that, when doused with white powder and viewed from the side, would appear to be a crescent.[18]
Indian astronomerAryabhata stated in his fifth-century textAryabhatiya that reflected sunlight is what causes the Moon to shine.[19]
Persian astronomerHabash al-Hasib al-Marwazi conducted various observations at theAl-Shammisiyyah observatory inBaghdad between 825 and 835.[20] Using these observations, he estimated the Moon's diameter as 3,037 km (equivalent to 1,519 km radius) and its distance from the Earth as 346,345 km (215,209 mi).[20] In the 11th century, the Islamic physicistAlhazen investigated moonlight through a number of experiments and observations, concluding it was a combination of the Moon's own light and the Moon's ability to absorb and emit sunlight.[21][22]
By theMiddle Ages, before the invention of the telescope, an increasing number of people began to recognise the Moon as a sphere, though many believed that it was "perfectly smooth".[23]
In 1609,Galileo Galilei drew one of the first telescopic drawings of the Moon in his bookSidereus Nuncius and noted that it was not smooth but had mountains and craters. Later in the 17th century,Giovanni Battista Riccioli andFrancesco Maria Grimaldi drew a map of the Moon and gave many craters the names they still have. On maps, the dark parts of the Moon's surface were calledmaria (singularmare) or seas, and the light parts were calledterrae or continents.
Thomas Harriot, as well as Galilei, drew the first telescopic representation of the Moon and observed it for several years. His drawings, however, remained unpublished.[24] The first map of the Moon was made by the Belgian cosmographer and astronomerMichael van Langren in 1645.[24] Two years later a much more influential effort was published byJohannes Hevelius. In 1647, Hevelius publishedSelenographia, the first treatise entirely devoted to the Moon. Hevelius's nomenclature, although used inProtestant countries until the eighteenth century, was replaced by the system published in 1651 by theJesuit astronomerGiovanni Battista Riccioli, who gave the large naked-eye spots the names of seas and the telescopic spots (since called craters) the names of philosophers and astronomers.[24]
In 1753, the Croatian Jesuit and astronomerRoger Joseph Boscovich discovered the absence of an atmosphere on the Moon. In 1824,Franz von Paula Gruithuisen explained the formation of craters as a result ofmeteorite strikes.[25]
The since disproven possibility that the Moon contains vegetation and is inhabited byselenites was seriously considered by major astronomers of the early modern period even into the first decades of the 19th century. In 1834–1836,Wilhelm Beer andJohann Heinrich Mädler published their four-volumeMappa Selenographica and the bookDer Mond in 1837, which firmly established the conclusion that the Moon has no bodies of water nor any appreciable atmosphere.[26]
TheCold War-inspired "space race" and "Moon race" between theSoviet Union and theUnited States of America accelerated with a focus on the Moon. This included many scientifically important firsts, such as the first photographs of thefar side of the Moon in 1959 by the Soviet Union, and culminated with the landing of the first humans on the Moon in 1969, seen around the world as one of the pivotal events of the 20th century and human history.
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The first artificial object to fly by theMoon was uncrewed Soviet probeLuna 1 on 4 January 1959, which went on to be the first probe to achieve aheliocentric orbit around the Sun.[28] Luna 1 was designed to impact the surface of the Moon.
The first probe to impact the surface of the Moon was the Soviet probeLuna 2, which made a hard landing on September 14, 1959, at 21:02:24 UTC. The far side of the Moon was first photographed on 7 October 1959, by the Soviet probeLuna 3. Though vague by modern standards, the photos showed that the far side of the Moon almost completely lackedmaria.
The first American probe to fly by the Moon wasPioneer 4 on 4 March 1959, which occurred shortly after Luna 1. It was the only success of eight early American probes that attempted to launch to the Moon.[29]
In an effort to compete with the Soviet successes, U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy proposed the Moon landing in aSpecial Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs:
Now it is time to take longer strides – time for a great new American enterprise – time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth.
...For while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last....I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
...let it be clear that I am asking the Congress and the country to accept a firm commitment to a new course of action—a course which will last for many years and carry very heavy costs...[30]Full text
Ranger 1 launched in August of 1961, just three months after President Kennedy's speech. It would be three more years and six failedRanger missions untilRanger 7 returned close up photos of the Lunar surface before impacting it in July 1964. A number of problems with launch vehicles, ground equipment, and spacecraft electronics plagued theRanger program and early probe missions. These lessons helped inMariner 2, the only successful U.S. space probe after Kennedy's famous speech to Congress and before his death in November 1963.[31] U.S.success rates improved greatly fromRanger 7 onward.
In 1966, the USSR accomplished the first soft landings and took the first pictures from the lunar surface during theLuna 9 andLuna 13 missions.
The U.S. followed Ranger with theSurveyor program[32] sending sevenrobotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Five of the seven spacecraft soft-landed, investigating whether theregolith (dust) was shallow enough for astronauts to stand on the Moon.
In September 1968 the Soviet Union'sZond 5 sent tortoises on a circumlunar mission, followed by turtles aboardZond 6 in November. On December 24, 1968, the crew ofApollo 8—Frank Borman,James Lovell andWilliam Anders—became the first human beings to enter lunar orbit and see the far side of the Moon in person. Humans first landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The first humans to walk on the lunar surface wereNeil Armstrong, commander of the U.S. missionApollo 11 and his fellow astronautBuzz Aldrin.
The first robotlunar rover to land on the Moon was the Soviet vesselLunokhod 1 on 17 November 1970, as part of theLunokhod programme. Since then, the last human to stand on the Moon wasEugene Cernan, who as part of theApollo 17 mission, walked on the Moon in December 1972.
Moon rock samples were brought back to Earth by three Luna missions (Luna 16,20, and24) and the Apollo missions 11 through 17 (exceptApollo 13, which aborted its planned lunar landing).Luna 24 in 1976 was thelast Lunar mission by either the Soviet Union or the U.S. untilClementine in 1994. Focus shifted toprobes to other planets,space stations, and theShuttle program.
Before the "Moon race," the U.S. had preliminary projects for scientific and military moonbases: theLunex Project andProject Horizon. Besides crewed landings, the abandonedSoviet crewed lunar programs included the building of a multipurpose moonbase "Zvezda", the first detailed project, complete with mockups of expedition vehicles[33] and surface modules.[34]
Japan began its lunar exploration efforts in 1990 with the launch of theHiten spacecraft by theJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), becoming the third country to place an object in orbit around the Moon. During the mission, Hiten deployed a smaller probe,Hagoromo, intended to enter lunar orbit. Although the probe was released successfully, its transmitter failed, preventing the return of scientific data.
In September of 2007, JAXA launched theSELENE spacecraft, also known as "Kaguya". The mission aimed to collect data on the Moon’s origin and geological evolution, as well as to test technologies for future lunar exploration. According to JAXA, the primary objective was "to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration".[35]
In 2013, JAXA initiated theSmart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission, a lunar lander designed to demonstrate high-precision landing capabilities. The lander was initially scheduled for launch in 2021, but was delayed due to postponements related to its ride-share partner, the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). SLIM was launched on 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC (7 September 08:42 Japan Standard Time). The spacecraft performed its trans-lunar injection burn on 1 October 2023, entered lunar orbit on 25 December 2023, and successfully landed on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC. With this landing, Japan became the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.[36]
Following the landing, SLIM experienced power generation issues but continued to operate intermittently. As of April 2024, the lander had survived four lunar days and three lunar nights, which are known for extreme temperature variations and pose significant challenges to spacecraft longevity.[37]
TheEuropean Space Agency launched the lunar orbiterSMART 1 on 27 September 2003, as a low-budget mission aimed at testing new technologies and conducting scientific observations. One of its main objectives was to capture three-dimensionalX-ray andinfrared images of the Moon’s surface. After a year-long journey, SMART 1 entered lunarorbit on November 15, 2004. It continued its survey work until September 3, 2006, when mission controllers directed it to impact the Moon deliberately to analyze the resulting debris plume.[38]
China’s lunar exploration efforts are conducted through the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, which includes scientific missions and assessments of potential lunar resources such ashelium-3, an isotope considered for possible future use in terrestrial energy production.[39]
TheChina National Space Administration (CNSA) launched theChang'e 1 lunar orbiter on 24 October 2007. Initially intended to operate for one year, the mission was extended and concluded with a controlled impact on the Moon on 1 March 2009. A second orbiter,Chang'e 2, was launched on 1 October 2010.
On 14 December 2013, China successfully deployed theChang'e 3 lander and theYutu rover, becoming the third nation to achieve a lunar soft landing.[40] It was the first soft landing on the lunar surface sinceLuna 24 in 1976. The backup spacecraft for Chang'e 3, originally constructed as a contingency, was repurposed for theChang'e 4 mission, which targeted the far side of the Moon.Chang'e 4 was launched on 7 December 2018[41] and landed on 3 January 2019.[42] TheYutu-2 rover, deployed by Chang'e 4, set a distance record for lunar surface travel.[43] Its findings included the detection of a dust layer up to 12 metres deep in parts of the lunar farside.[44]
A sample return mission,Chang'e 5, was initially planned for 2017 but was delayed following a failure of theLong March 5 launch vehicle.[45][46] Following the rocket's successful return to flight in December 2019, CNSA launched Chang'e 5 in late 2020. The mission returned approximately 2 kilograms of lunar material to Earth on 16 December 2020.[47]
TheChang'e 6 mission, launched on 3 May 2024, conducted the first sample return from the lunar far side, specifically theApollo Basin.[48][49] It carried a small rover,Jinchan, which conductedinfrared spectroscopy and captured imagery of the lander on the surface.[50]
The spacecraft’s lander-ascender-rover module separated from its orbiter and returner prior to landing on 1 June 2024 at 22:23 UTC.[51][52] The ascender lifted off from the lunar surface on 3 June 2024 at 23:38 UTC, conducted an automated rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, and transferred its sample container to the return module. The returner successfully landed inInner Mongolia on 25 June 2024, completing China’s second lunar sample return mission and the first from the Moon’s far side.
India's national space agency, theIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), launchedChandrayaan-1, an uncrewed lunar orbiter, on 22 October 2008.[53] The spacecraft was intended to operate for two years, with scientific objectives including the creation of a three-dimensional atlas of the near and far sides of the Moon and chemical and mineralogical mapping of the lunar surface.[54]
The orbiter released theMoon Impact Probe, which impacted the lunar surface at 15:04 GMT on 14 November 2008.[55] Among its key findings, Chandrayaan-1 detected the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar regolith.[56]
This mission was succeeded byChandrayaan-2, launched on 22 July 2019, which entered lunar orbit on 20 August 2019. It carried India’s first lander and rover; however, due to a technical anomaly during the final descent, the lander crashed on the lunar surface.[57]
Chandrayaan-3, ISRO's third lunar exploration mission, was launched on 14 July 2023 and featured a lander,Vikram, and a rover,Pragyan. The lander successfully achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023, making India the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and the first to land near the south polar region.[58][59][60]
TheBallistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA launched theClementine mission in 1994, andLunar Prospector in 1998.
NASA launched theLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, on June 18, 2009, which has collected imagery of the Moon's surface. It also carried the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which investigated the possible existence of water in the craterCabeus.GRAIL is another mission, launched in 2011.
Following the decades-long lull in lunar exploration in the aftermath of the Cold War, the main push of US lunar exploration goals has coalesced under the Artemis program, formulated in 2017.[61]
On 10 August 2023, Russia launched theLuna 25 mission, its first mission to the Moon since 1976.[62] On 20 August, it crashed into the Moon after a guidance error that resulted in an anomalous orbit lowering maneuver.[63]
South Korea launched the lunar orbiterDanuri on 4 August 2022, and it arrived at the Moon on 16 December 2022. This was the first phase of South Korea's lunar exploration program, with plans to launch another lunar lander and probe.[64]
Pakistan sent a lunar orbiter calledICUBE-Q along with Chang'e 6.[49]
In 2007, the X Prize Foundation together withGoogle launched theGoogle Lunar X Prize to encourage commercial endeavors to the Moon. A prize of $20 million was to be awarded to the first private venture to get to the Moon with a robotic lander by the end of March 2018, with additional prizes worth $10 million for further milestones.[65][66] As of August 2016, 16 teams were reportedly participating in the competition.[67] In January 2018 the foundation announced that the prize would go unclaimed as none of the finalist teams would be able to make a launch attempt by the deadline.[68]
In August 2016, the US government granted permission to US-based start-up Moon Express to land on the Moon.[69] This marked the first time that a private enterprise was given the right to do so. The decision is regarded as a precedent helping to define regulatory standards for deep-space commercial activity in the future. Previously, private companies were restricted to operating on or around Earth.[69]
On 29 November 2018, NASA announced that nine commercial companies would compete to win a contract to send small payloads to the Moon in what is known asCommercial Lunar Payload Services. According to NASA administratorJim Bridenstine, "We are building a domestic American capability to get back and forth to the surface of the moon.".[70]
The first commercial mission to the Moon was accomplished by theManfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M), led byLuxSpace, an affiliate of GermanOHB AG. The mission was launched on 23 October 2014 with the Chinese Chang'e 5-T1 test spacecraft, attached to the upper stage of aLong March 3C/G2 rocket.[71][72] The 4M spacecraft made a Moon flyby on a night of October 28, 2014, after which it entered elliptical Earth orbit, exceeding its designed lifetime by four times.[73][74]
TheBeresheet lander operated byIsrael Aerospace Industries andSpaceIL impacted the Moon on April 11, 2019, after a failed landing attempt.[75]
Blue Ghost Mission 1, a robotic Moon landing mission conducted byFirefly Aerospace, launched on January 15, 2025 and landed on March 2, 2025 at 08:34 UTC.
Following the abandoned USConstellation program, plans for crewed flights followed bymoonbases were declared by Russia,ESA, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. All of them intend to continue the exploration of the Moon with more uncrewed spacecraft.
India is planning and it is studying a potential collaboration with Japan to launch theLunar Polar Exploration Mission in 2026–2028.
Russia also announced plans to resume its previously frozen projectLuna-Glob, an uncrewed lander and orbiter, which was slated to launch in 2021 but did not manifest.[76] In 2015,Roscosmos stated that Russia plans to place an astronaut on the Moon by 2030, leaving Mars to NASA. The purpose is to work jointly with NASA and avoid a space race.[77] A RussianLunar Orbital Station has been proposed to orbit the Moon after 2030.
In 2018, NASA released plans to return to the Moon with commercial and international partners as part of an overall agency Exploration Campaign in support ofSpace Policy Directive 1, giving rise to theArtemis program and theCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). NASA plans to start with robotic missions on the lunar surface, as well as the crewedLunar Gateway space station. As of 2019, NASA is issuing contracts to develop new small lunar payload delivery services, develop lunar landers, and conduct more research on the Moon's surface ahead of a human return.[78] Artemis program involves several flights of theOrion spacecraft and lunar landings from 2022 to 2028.[79][80]
On November 3, 2021, NASA announced it had picked a landing site in the lunar south polar region near the craterShackleton for an uncrewed spacecraft that included NASA's Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1. The precise location was termed the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, which has near-continuous solar exposure and line-of-sight with Earth for communication.[81]
ESA'sMoonlight Initiative aims to create a small network of communication and navigation satellites orbiting the Moon to support the Artemis landings.[82] These would enable communication with Earth even when out of direct line-of-sight. They would also provide navigation signals similar to theGlobal Positioning System on Earth, requiring precision timekeeping. Moonlight planners have proposed creating a new time zone for the Moon for this purpose, culminating in the introduction of theCoordinated Lunar Time standard in 2024.[83] Due to the lower gravity and relative motion,time passes more quickly on the Moon, making every 24-hour period elapse 56 microseconds early when measured from Earth.[84]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:"NASA: Moon to Mars".nasa.gov. NASA.Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. RetrievedMay 19, 2019.
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