Apollo 12 Lunar Module Intrepid prepares to descend towards the surface of the Moon. 1969 NASA photo by Richard F. Gordon Jr.
The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made a deliberate impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation from Earth. The invention of the optical 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 the lunar surface were among his first observations using it.
NASA's Apollo program was the only program to successfully land humans on the Moon, which it did six times. The first landing took place in 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong left scientific instruments and returned lunar samples to Earth. Starting in 2025, NASA’s Artemis program plans to conduct further crewed lunar exploration missions.
The first soft landing on the far side of the Moon was made by the Chinese robotic spacecraft Chang'e 4 in early 2019, which successfully deployed the Yutu-2 robotic lunar rover. The first soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon was made by the Indian lander Vikram of Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, which successfully deployed the Pragyan rover.[1][2]
^"India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully lands on the Moon". The European Space Agency. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
^Jeffrey Kluger. "How India Became the First Country to Reach the Moon's South Pole". Time. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
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