A Short History of Spacecraft Landings on the Moon
2025-03-10
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1Many years have passed since the first spacecraft landed on the moon in 1966.
2From then until now, there have been many additional attempts with some succeeding and others failing.
3Here is a short history of some of these attempts.
4The Soviet Union's Luna 9 spacecraft was the first to land on the moon.
5It touched down on the lunar surface in 1966.
6The landing came after several other Soviet spacecraft either did not reach the moon or crashed on the surface.
7The American space agency NASA says Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to carry out a soft landing on the moon.
8It was also the first to send "photographic data" from the moon's surface to Earth.
9Luna 9's landing proved "the lunar surface could support the weight of a lander and that an object would not sink into a loose layer of dust as some models predicted," NASA said.
10In May 1966, the United States followed with its Surveyor 1 mission.
11NASA describes this effort as "the first of a series of seven robotic spacecraft sent to the moon to gather data in preparation for NASA's Apollo missions."
12The successful soft landing of Surveyor 1 "was one of the great successes of NASA's early lunar and interplanetary program."
13Both the U.S. and Soviet Union had other successful robotic landings.
14Next, the countries aimed to be the first to land humans on the moon.
15In 1969, NASA successfully landed Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
16The U.S. Apollo program sent 12 astronauts to explore the moon over six missions.
17Apollo 17 was the last in 1972.
18The U.S. is still the only country to land humans on the moon.
19NASA officials say the agency's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface possibly by the end of 2026.
20In 2013, China became the third country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon.
21China landed an exploring vehicle, or rover named Yutu that year.
22China followed with the Yutu-2 rover in 2019, this time touching down on the moon's unexplored far side.
23In 2020, China successfully returned samples of rock and dirt collected by the rovers.
24The mission returned about 1.7 kilograms of lunar material collected from the near side of the moon.
25Then in 2024, another mission returned rock and soil samples from the less explored far side of the moon.
26China has said it aims to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030.
27In 2023, Russia tried its first moon landing in nearly 50 years.
28The Luna 25 spacecraft was attempting to land near the lunar south pole.
29But it is believed to have crash landed on the moon's surface.
30The country's last effort before that, Luna 24 in 1976, landed successfully and returned moon rocks to Earth.
31After its first lander crashed into the moon in 2019, India made its second attempt in 2023.
32The country successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface.
33The mission made India the fourth nation to complete a moon landing.
34In January 2024, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon.
35But the SLIM spacecraft landed upside down.
36This caused some power and communication problems, but the lander was able to operate for a short time.
37I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Many years have passed since the first spacecraft landed on the moon in 1966. From then until now, there have been many additional attempts with some succeeding and others failing. Here is a short history of some of these attempts. 2First victories 3The Soviet Union's Luna 9 spacecraft was the first to land on the moon. It touched down on the lunar surface in 1966. The landing came after several other Soviet spacecraft either did not reach the moon or crashed on the surface. 4The American space agency NASA says Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to carry out a soft landing on the moon. It was also the first to send "photographic data" from the moon's surface to Earth. Luna 9's landing proved "the lunar surface could support the weight of a lander and that an object would not sink into a loose layer of dust as some models predicted," NASA said. 5In May 1966, the United States followed with its Surveyor 1 mission. NASA describes this effort as "the first of a series of seven robotic spacecraft sent to the moon to gather data in preparation for NASA's Apollo missions." The successful soft landing of Surveyor 1 "was one of the great successes of NASA's early lunar and interplanetary program." 6Both the U.S. and Soviet Union had other successful robotic landings. Next, the countries aimed to be the first to land humans on the moon. 7Apollo program 8In 1969, NASA successfully landed Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. The U.S. Apollo program sent 12 astronauts to explore the moon over six missions. Apollo 17 was the last in 1972. The U.S. is still the only country to land humans on the moon. NASA officials say the agency's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface possibly by the end of 2026. 9China expands space efforts 10In 2013, China became the third country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. China landed an exploring vehicle, or rover named Yutu that year. China followed with the Yutu-2 rover in 2019, this time touching down on the moon's unexplored far side. 11In 2020, China successfully returned samples of rock and dirt collected by the rovers. The mission returned about 1.7 kilograms of lunar material collected from the near side of the moon. Then in 2024, another mission returned rock and soil samples from the less explored far side of the moon. China has said it aims to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030. 12Russian landing failure 13In 2023, Russia tried its first moon landing in nearly 50 years. The Luna 25 spacecraft was attempting to land near the lunar south pole. But it is believed to have crash landed on the moon's surface. The country's last effort before that, Luna 24 in 1976, landed successfully and returned moon rocks to Earth. 14India succeeds on second attempt 15After its first lander crashed into the moon in 2019, India made its second attempt in 2023. The country successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface. The mission made India the fourth nation to complete a moon landing. 16Japan lands sideways 17In January 2024, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. But the SLIM spacecraft landed upside down. This caused some power and communication problems, but the lander was able to operate for a short time. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English with additional information from NASA. 20____________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22layer - n. an amount of a substance that covers a surface 23mission - n. (space travel) the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task or job 24sample - n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from