The first leap in your observation of me, was prompted by the invention of the telescope. Galileo Galilei made good use of this new instrument and observed mountains and craters on my surface!
The first leap in lunar observation was prompted by the invention of the telescope. Galileo Galilei made good use of this new instrument and observed mountains and craters on my surface.
The Cold War-inspired space race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. led to an acceleration of interest in me. Unmanned probes, both flyby and impact/lander missions, were sent almost as soon as launcher capabilities would allow it. The Soviet Union's Luna program was the first to reach me with an unmanned spacecraft.
The Cold War-inspired space race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. led to an acceleration of interest in me. Unmanned probes, both flyby and impact/lander missions, were sent almost as soon as launcher capabilities would allow it. The Soviet Union's Luna program was the first to reach me with an unmanned spacecraft.
The first man-made object to escape Earth's gravity and pass near me was Luna 1.
The first man-made object to impact the lunar surface was Luna 1.
The first photographs of the normally occluded far side of me were made by Luna 3, all in 1959.
The first spacecraft to perform a successful lunar soft landing was Luna 9 and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon was Luna 10, both in 1966.
The landing of the first humans on me in 1969 is seen by many as the culmination of the space race. It was so exciting!
Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on my surface. He was the commander of the American mission Apollo 11 and
first set foot on me at 02:56 UTC on July 21, 1969.
first set foot on me at 02:56 UTC on July 21, 1969. The American Moon landing and return was enabled by considerable technological advances, in domains such as ablation chemistry and atmospheric re-entry technology, in the early 1960s.
Lunar Exploration Timeline-
