Moon Missions by various nations

 A Complete List of Moon Missions

Humanity has long been attracted by the Moon, the sole natural satellite of the planet. Numerous nations have launched ambitious missions over the years to explore its mysteries and deepen our grasp of the universe. Lunar exploration has captivated the imagination of nations all around the world, from the historic Apollo mission of the United States to more current missions like Russia’s Luna 25 and India’s Chandrayaan-3. This page provides a chronological list of Moon missions, broken down by nation and emphasizing significant accomplishments and turning points.

The United States

1. Pioneer 0 (1958): Although a failure, Pioneer 0 was the United States’ initial attempt to travel to the Moon. Shortly after takeoff, the mission was unsuccessful.

2. The Ranger series, which ran from 1961 to 1965, attempted to take and transmit high-definition pictures of the Moon’s surface. Before hitting the Moon, Ranger 7 successfully sent photos.

4. Surveyor Series (1966–1968): To learn more about the lunar surface’s makeup and viability for future manned trips, the Surveyor spacecraft made soft landings on the moon.

5. The Apollo Program (1961–1972): Probably the most famous lunar exploration initiatives were the Apollo missions. Neil Armstrong and Edwin(Buzz) Aldrin were the first people to set foot on the Moon’s surface. Thanks to Apollo 11, which specifically accomplished the historic achievement of doing so in 1969.

6. Clementine (1994): Although Clementine was not a human mission, it was a cooperative Department of Defense and NASA mission with the goal of studying the Moon from orbit.

7. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (2009): This mission’s objectives included mapping the Moon’s surface and looking for prospective landing locations for upcoming missions.

8. NASA’s Artemis program(ongoing): NASA’s Artemis program focuses on sustainable exploration and sending the first woman and the next man to the Moon, seeks to send people back to the Moon by the middle of the 2020s.

Russia(Former Soviet Union) 

1. Luna Series (1959–1976): In response to early American attempts, the Soviet Union launched the Luna missions. In 1959, Luna 2 became the first artificial object to orbit the Moon, and Luna 3 offered the first views of the Moon’s far side.

2. The Lunokhod rovers were the first remotely operated robots to explore the surface of the moon in the 1970s. They carried out tests and returned useful information to Earth.

3. Luna 24 (1972): Luna 24 was the last Luna program flight and returned lunar soil samples to Earth.

4. The Luna-25 (2023): Luna-25 lander, which was initially known as the Luna-Glob lander, is still a component of what was originally thought of as the Luna-Glob lunar exploration program. The designation Luna 25 was changed to Luna 25 to stress continuity with the Soviet Luna programme from the 1970s. Except for the ones sent by the Soviet space program, it is the first lunar lander that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has dispatched to the Moon. It also would have been the first lander to touch down on the lunar south pole.

The Luna 25 mission launched on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket on August 10, 2023, from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far east of Russia’s Amur Region, and on August 16, it entered lunar orbit. On August 19, the lander collided with the Moon’s surface.

China

1. Chang’e Series (2007–2021): The Chang’e missions have been a series of robotic lunar missions, and they were named after a Chinese Moon goddess. Yutu (Jade Rabbit), a rover, was successfully landed on the Moon by Chang’e 3 in 2013.

2. Chang’e 4 (2019): This mission made history by performing the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon and exploring an area that had never been explored before.

3. Chang’e 5 (2020): Chang’e 5 obtained lunar samples and successfully brought them back to Earth, achieving a major breakthrough in China’s lunar exploration operations.

India

1. Chandrayaan-1 (2008): Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission, made important discoveries, including proof that there were water molecules on the lunar surface.

2. Chandrayaan-2 (2019): The orbiter is still studying the Moon from orbit, but the lander Vikram lost contact during its descent.

3. Chandrayaan-3 (2023): The LVM3-M4 rocket carrying Chandrayaan-3 lifted out on July 14, 2023,  from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. It entered an Earth parking orbit with a perigee and apogee distances of 170 km and 36,500 km, respectively.

Chandrayaan-3 was successfully inserted into an orbit around the Moon on August 5 by ISRO following a series of earthbound maneuvers that had previously put the spacecraft in a trans-lunar injection orbit. The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru served as the operating base for the lunar-orbit insertion (LOI) operation.

On 17 August, the Vikram lander separated from the propulsion module to begin the last phase of the mission.

On August 23, 2023, the lander’s four engines ignited in a braking maneuver at a height of 30 kilometers (19 mi) above the Moon as it neared the low point of its orbit. The lander reached a height of 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) above the surface after 11.5 minutes; it held this position for roughly 10 seconds before stabilizing itself with eight smaller thrusters and rotating from a horizontal to a vertical position while continuing its descent.

It then slowed Its fall to about 150 metres (490 ft) using two of its four engines; it paused there for about 30 seconds to find the best landing location before continuing to descend and touched the Moon surface. India became fourth nation to land on the moon and first nation to land on the southern part of the Moon.

Various Important Missions

1. Japan (JAXA): The Hiten spacecraft (1990) and the Kaguya (SELENE) mission (2007) both made contributions to lunar study.

2. European Space Agency (ESA): As part of the Artemis program, the ESA will soon launch the Lunar Gateway and the SMART-1 (2004) lunar lander.

3. Israel: In 2019, the privately sponsored Beresheet mission, which was intended to land a tiny spacecraft on the Moon, crashed.

4. South Korea: The planned KPLO mission is intended to investigate the lunar environment and surface.

Looking back at the history of Moon missions, it is clear that these missions have not only increased our understanding of the universe, but have also shown the astounding powers of human inventiveness and global cooperation. The exploration of the Moon continues to be an exciting journey that connects nations in their drive to learn more about our neighbour to the moon. There are now missions underway and more are planned.