--- title: Here's Every Space Mission to the Moon in One Chart description: The Cold War propelled lunar exploration, but humans last stepped foot on the moon in 1972. Now, a new moon race is on, with new players. canonical: https://time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-18T15:12:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:56:50.484Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's Every Single Mission to the Moon in One Chart og:description: The Cold War propelled lunar exploration, but humans last stepped foot on the moon in 1972. Now, a new moon race is on, with new players. og:url: https://time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64dc485fbdb18223/698a002716d8841983c36b6b/apollo-12-moon-orbit.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Apollo 12's Lunar Module Above The Moon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Every Single Mission to the Moon in One Chart twitter:description: The Cold War propelled lunar exploration, but humans last stepped foot on the moon in 1972. Now, a new moon race is on, with new players. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64dc485fbdb18223/698a002716d8841983c36b6b/apollo-12-moon-orbit.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Every Single Mission to the Moon in One Chart > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2019 3:12 PM UTC  View, during NASA's Apollo 12 mission, of the 'Intrepid' Lunar Module as it descends to the surface of the moon, November 19, 1969. View, during NASA's Apollo 12 mission, of the 'Intrepid' Lunar Module as it descends to the surface of the moon, November 19, 1969.Interim Archives—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2019 3:12 PM UTC Humans started to work in earnest to get to [the moon](https://time.com/5622317/apollo-11-moon-science/) in the 1950s, when the U.S. and U.S.S.R. initiated a bracing [Cold War space race](https://time.com/longform/race-to-the-moon/). The Soviets drew first blood in 1959: in that one year, Luna 1 became the first spacecraft to reach the moon. Luna 2 was the first to reach the lunar surface, and Luna 3 sent back the first images of the dark side of the moon. In 1966, Roscosmos—the U.S.S.R.’s space agency—made the first soft touchdown on the moon (every other mission to reach the lunar surface to that point had ended with a violent impact). But in the late 1960s, NASA blew past Roscosmos with the Apollo program, with the first crewed mission to the moon and, of course, the mission that enabled the [first people to walk on the moon](https://time.com/5628572/elon-musk-moon-landing/). From 1969 to 1972, 12 people—all Americans—[walked on the lunar surface](https://time.com/5621999/neil-armstrong-quote/). Since then, not a single human has stepped foot on the Earth’s closest celestial neighbor. For decades, human space exploration mostly ignored the moon in favor of low-Earth orbit efforts like the International Space Station. But in recent years, interest in reaching the moon again has picked up, with Japan, the European Space Agency, China, India, and Israel all making their first forays to lunar orbit. In the graphic below, you can see the entire history of human missions—successes and failures—to the moon.  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/"},"headline":"Here's Every Single Mission to the Moon in One Chart","datePublished":"2019-07-18T15:12:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:56:50.484Z","description":"The Cold War propelled lunar exploration, but humans last stepped foot on the moon in 1972. 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