The exploration of Earth's crater covered moon

First observation of moon

Mar 2, 1610

Galileo Galilei observed the moon with a telescope for the first time. This was the first observation of the moon.

First photo of the moon

Mar 23, 1840

J.W. Draper took the first photograph of the moon.

launch of Apollo 11

Jul 16, 1969

Apollo 11 launched of from NASA. This was the first spacecraft launched in history.

First moon landing

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armsrtong was the first human to land on the moon. Armstrong took the first step on the moon after exiting the Apollo 11 spacecraft. The spacecraft was named Eagle.

Apollo 12 landed on the moon

Nov 14, 1969

Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean land on the moon in Apollo 12. The spacecraft was named Intrepid

Apollo 14 landed on the moon

Jan 31, 1971

Alan B. Shepard and Stuart A. Roosa landed on the moon in Apollo 14. The spacecraft was named Antares.

Apollo 15 landed on the moon

Jul 26, 1971

David R. Scott and James B. Irusin landed on the moon in Apollo 15. The spacecraft was named Falcon.

Apollo 16 landed on the moon

Apr 16, 1972

John W. Young and Charles M. Duke landed on the moon in Apollo 16. The spacecraft was named Orion.

Apollo 17 landed on the moon

Dec 7, 1972

Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt landed on the moon in Apollo 17. The spacecraft was named Challenger.

Hiten

Jan 24, 1990

Hiten launched from Japan. This was Japan's first spacecraft launched.

Hiten crashed

Apr 10, 1993

Hiten crashed into the moon. It was an intentional crash

SMART 1

Sep 27, 2003

The European space agency's SMART 1 lunar orbiter inventories key chemical products.

Kepler

Mar 6, 2009

Kepler launched. Kepler was the first planet hunting spacecraft

launch of GRAIL

Nov 10, 2011

The launch of GRAIL lunar gravity probe missions

Ebb and Flow discovery

Dec 17, 2012

Ebb and Flow, a pair of NASA probes orbiting the moon for GRAIL, find a mountain near the lunar north pole of the moon