A Brief History of Lunar Exploration

Image caption: The ascent stage of Apollo 10’s lunar module returns to the command module on May 22, 1969. Image credit: NASA/John Young

When the Space Age began in 1957, it did not take long before the Moon became the primary exploration target. After learning how to live in space and operate our spacecraft during the Mercury and Gemini programs, NASA’s successes in the Apollo program drew us ahead of the Soviet Union and put the United States’ science, engineering, technology, and industrial might on worldwide display. 

After the Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 10 test flights in Earth orbit and Moon orbit in 1968 and 1969, NASA accomplished Apollo 11’s successful Moon landing in July 1969. From 1969 to 1972, twelve astronauts walked and worked on the Moon during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions. To date, the United States is the only country to have landed astronauts on the Moon.

Why Did We Go To The Moon?

Putting people on the Moon was the main reason for going there, but it was not the only reason: scientific discovery was an important part of the effort, too. Thanks to the data from dozens of science instruments placed on the Moon and from studying hundreds of pounds of rocks brought back from the lunar surface, we learned how old the Moon is and started to constrain the scientific models to explain how the Moon originally formed. 

What Happened After The Apollo Missions?

Apollo 17’s astronauts left the surface of the Moon on December 14, 1972, and since then, humans have not returned. NASA’s attention in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s was mainly focused on the space shuttle program, constructing and completing the International Space Station (ISS), and building and operating hundreds of spacecraft and telescopes to explore our Earth, Sun, Solar System, and the rest of the universe. 
Slowly, scientists have been turning our attention back to the Moon. There is so much more we still want to know about Earth’s closest neighbor in space! Uncrewed orbiters, landers, impactors, and rovers from space agencies and private companies in the United States, the Soviet Union, Russia, China, Japan, the European Space Agency, India, Pakistan, and South Korea have all explored our Moon
​Source/Credit: https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/