Which landed on the moon

On July 20, , millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch two U. Humans were only able to make that small step after several other space firsts happened. In the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched into space by Russia. The United States launched several satellites of their own afterward. Both countries hoped to be the first to send a human into space. Following these milestones, President John F. NASA went to work. On July 16, , the spacecraft Apollo 11 prepared to launch a crew of three astronauts into space … and the history books.

Before touching down, the three men split up. The Eagle made a risky landing in a shallow moon crater named the Sea of Tranquility. The uncrewed Artemis 1 launch next year will pave the way for the next man and first woman to walk on the Moon since the end of NASA's Apollo era. The last man to set boots on the Moon was Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan who in bid farewell to the lunar surface with a touching tribute to humanity.

He said: "And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. The programme's first mission, Artemis 1, is pencilled in to launch in February , after multiple delays.

Artemis 1 was originally scheduled to launch late this year, setting the stage for astronauts to walk on the Moon by The capsule was affixed to the colossal rocket in the final stage of pre-launch preparations, before blasting off on an uncrewed flight around the lunar orb. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October , Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing.

In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the far side of the moon and back, and in March Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit.

That May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At a. Armstrong, a year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission.

After traveling , miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July The next day, at p. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at p.

At p. As he made his way down the module's ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation.

Aldrin joined him on the moon's surface 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U. By a. I want to see humans on the moon in my lifetime.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content. How many countries have been to the moon? Last Updated: 8th July As of June Which countries have been to the moon? The USA - 32 completed missions. The Soviet Union - 23 completed missions. China - 7 completed missions. Japan - 2 completed missions. Luxembourg - 1 completed mission. European Union - 1 completed mission. India - 1 completed mission.