What were the dates of all moon landings?

Answer 1

Manned:

Six manned spacecraft have successfully landed on the moon. All six spacecraft were part of the Apollo space programme.

The first moon landing (Apollo 11) was on July 20 1969. Apollo 11's crew was Neil Armstrong (Commander), Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (Lunar Module pilot), and Michael Collins (Command Module pilot).

The second moon landing (Apollo 12) was on November 19 1969. Apollo 12's crew was Charles Conrad, Jr. (Commander), Richard Gordon, Jr. (Command Module pilot), and Alan LaVerne Bean (Lunar Module pilot).

The third moon landing (Apollo 14) was on 5 February 1971. Alan Shepard, America's first man into space, commanded Apollo 14. His crew consisted of Stuart Roosa (Command Module pilot) and Edgar Mitchell (Lunar Module Pilot).

The fourth moon landing (Apollo 15) was on July 30 1971, and the astronauts explored the surface riding in the first lunar rover. Apollo 15's crew was David Scott (Commander), James Irwin (Lunar Module pilot), and Alfred Worden (Command Module Pilot).

The fifth moon landing (Apollo 16) was on April 20, 1972. Apollo 16's crew was John Young (Commander), Charles Duke, Jr. (Lunar Module pilot), and Thomas Mattingly (Command Module pilot).

The sixth and final moon landing (Apollo 17) was on 11 December, 1972. Apollo 17's crew was Eugene Cernan (Commander), Ronald Evans (Command Module Pilot), and Dr Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot)

Unmanned:

The first spacecraft to impact the moon's surface was the U.S.S.R.'s Luna 2. The spacecraft impacted the moon on September 14, 1959 and was destroyed on impact.

The first US spacecraft to reach the moon's surface was the Ranger 4. This spacecraft impacted the moon's surface (and like Luna 2 was destroyed in the process) on April 26, 1962.

The first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data to Earth was the Soviet spacecraft Luna 9. This spacecraft landed on the moon in the Ocean of Storms on February 3, 1966.

The second spacecraft to achieve lunar soft landing was the American spacecraft Surveyor 1. This spacecraft landed on the moon on June 2, 1966.

The first unmanned spacecraft to land on the moon and return to earth was the Soviet spacecraft Luna 16. This spacecraft landed on the moon on September 20, 1970.

The first spacecraft to land on the moon and deploy a lunar roving vehicle was the Soviet spacecraft Lunar 17. Lunar 17 landed on the moon in November 1970 (~November 15) and deployed the lunar vehicle Lunokhod 1. Lunokhod 1 remained operational for 11 lunar days and travelled approximately 10.5 km on the moon's surface.

The first spacecraft to land on the moon and be retrieved by a subsequent mission was the American spacecraft Surveyor 3. Surveyor 3 landed on the moon on April 20, 1967, and parts of it were retrieved by Apollo 12 in November 1969.