Ultimax Group's Lunar Atlas and Exploration Page

INTERACTIVE GRAYSCALE ATLAS OF LUNAR NEARSIDE
with landing sites on the Moon of manned and
(some, more coming) robotic probes from the USA & USSR
Alphanumeric codes correspond to list of missions below
(e.g. "A11" = Apollo-11, "L15C" = Luna 15C). Map is orthographic projection in true relationship to the Earth (north = up) as opposed to astronomical convention.

While you're visiting our lunar archive, take a look at Lunacorp's Return to the Moon v2.0 CD-ROM for Wintel machines. Also includes an interactive lunar atlas and a LEM flight simulator. Includes your choice of free NASA or USAF shoulder mission patch! Buy it today!

Missions to the Earth's natural satellite, in order:
plus nation, launch date, result (bold = success, red = failure)
vehicle type in parentheses if launch failure
Overall Lunar mission success: 65/122 = 53%

Luna - USSR 25 June 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Thor-Able 1 (Pioneer) - USA 17 August 1958
Launch failure (Thor-Able).
Luna - USSR 23 September 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Pioneer 1 - USA 11 October 1958
Set distance record, failed to reach Moon, reentered 12Oct1958 (Thor-Able).
Luna - USSR 12 October 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Pioneer 2 - USA 08 November 1958
3rd stage ignition failure (Thor-Able).
Luna - USSR 04 December 1958
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Pioneer 3 - USA 06 December 1958
Provided radiation data, failed to reach Moon, reentered 07Dec1958 (Thor-Able).
Luna 1 - USSR 02 January 1959
Passed within 5998 km of Moon, in 0.977 × 1.314 × 0.01 ° (450-day) solar orbit.
Pioneer 4 - USA 03 March 1959
Passed within 60030 km of Moon, in 0.987 × 1.142 × 1.30 ° solar orbit.
Luna - USSR 18 June 1959
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Luna 2 - USSR 12 September 1959
First manmade object to impact moon on 15Sep1959 at 29.10 N x 0.00 E near Palus Putredinus. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 3 - USSR 04 October 1959
First probe to photograph lunar Farside, for 40 mins, reentered 29Apr1960.
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 4B) - USA 26 November 1959
Shroud failure (Atlas-Able).
Luna 4 - USSR 12 April 1960
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5A) - USA 25 September 1960
2nd stage failure (Atlas-Able). Pieces recovered in S.Africa.
Pioneer (Atlas-Able 5B) - USA 15 December 1960
Exploded 70 sec. after liftoff (Atlas-Able).
Ranger 1 - USA 23 August 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, died 30Aug1961 (Atlas-Agena B).
Ranger 2 - USA 18 November 1961
Failed to reach deep space orbit, reentered 20Nov1961 (Atlas-Agena B).
Ranger 3 - USA 26 January 1962
Missed Moon by 36793 km, in solar orbit (Atlas-Agena B).
Ranger 4 - USA 23 April 1962
Impacted Moon on 26Apr1962 at xx N x yyy W, timer failure, experiments inoperative. Return to Lunar map.
Ranger 5 - USA 18 October 1962
Missed Moon by 724 km, in 0.95 × 1.05 AU solar orbit.
Sputnik 25 - USSR 04 January 1963
TLI stage failure? (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 05Jan1963.
Luna - USSR 03 February 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Luna - USSR 03 March 1963
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Luna 4 - USSR 02 April 1963
Probe missed Luna by 8499 km, in barycentric orbit.
name? - USSR 10 July 1963
Launch failure (SL-3 Luna).
Ranger 6 - USA 30 January 1964
Impacted Moon on 02February 1964 at xx N x yyy W, TV camera failure. Return to Lunar map.
Luna - USSR 21 March 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Luna (Lunik 1?) - USSR 20 April 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Luna (Lunik 2?) - USSR 04 June 1964
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Ranger 7 - USA 28 July 1964
First Ranger success. Returned 4308 photos. Impacted Moon on 31Jul1964 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Ranger 8 - USA 17 February 1965
Returned 7137 closeup photos. Impacted Moon on 20Feb1965 at xx N x yyy W in Mare Tranquillitatis. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 60 (Lunik 3?) - USSR 12 March 1965
Upper TLI stage failure? (SL-6 Molniya), reentered when?.
Ranger 9 - USA 21 March 1965
Returned 5814 photos. Impacted Moon on 24Mar1965 at approx 14 S × 3 W inside crater Alphonsus. Return to Lunar map.
Luna (Lunik 4?) - USSR 10 April 1965
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Lunik 5 - USSR 09 May 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, impacted on 12May1965 at xx N x yyy W in Mare Nubium. Return to Lunar map.
Lunik 6 - USSR 08 June 1965
Soft landing attempt failed, missed Moon by 160,935 km, in solar orbit.
Zond 3 - USSR 18 July 1965
Retransmitted photos taken during lunar flyby, testbed for later Martian probes, in barycentric orbit.
Surveyor Model 1 - USA 11 August 1965
Model launched to simulated Moon.
Luna 7 - USSR 04 October 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired early, crashed on 07Oct1965 at xx N x yyy E in Oceanus Procellarum. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 8 - USSR 03 December 1965
Soft landing attempt failed when retros fired late, crashed on 06Dec1965 at xx N x yyy E in Oceanus Procellarum. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 9 - USSR 31 January 1966
First soft landing success on 03Feb1966 at 7.08 N × 54.37 W, west of Crater Reiner in Oceanus Procellarum, 100 kg descent capsule returned surface pix for 3 days. PIC OF LUNA 9 COMING HERE. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 111 - USSR 1 March 1966
Upper TLI stage failure? (SL-6 Molniya), reentered 03Mar1966.
Luna 10 - USSR 31 March 1966
Orbiter successfully returned data until 30May1966, in lunar orbit.
Surveyor 1 - USA 30 May 1966
Soft landing success on 02Jun1966 at xx N x yyy W in Oceanus Procellarum, tx'd 11,150 pix until 13Jul1966. Return to Lunar map.
Explorer 33 - USA 1 July 1966
Overshot lunar orbit (Thor-Agena-Delta), in high earth orbit.
Lunar Orbiter 1 - USA 10 August 1966
Transmitted pix until 29Aug1966; impacted on 29Oct1966 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 11 - USSR 24 August 1966
Orbiter successfully returned sci data until 01Oct1966, in lunar orbit?.
Surveyor 2 - USA 20 September 1966
Vernier failed; crashed on 23Sep1966 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 12 - USSR 22 October 1966
Orbiter successfully returned photos & data until ?, in lunar orbit?.
Lunar Orbiter 2 - USA 06 November 1966
Transmitted 205 frames; impacted on 11Oct1967 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 13 (Lunik 13?) - USSR 21 December 1966
Soft landing on 24Dec1966 at 18.87 N x 62.05 W, tx'd photos & soil data until ?. Return to Lunar map.
Lunar Orbiter 3 - USA 05 February 1967
Transmitted 182 frames; impacted on 09Oct1967 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 146 - USSR 10 March 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Successful test in LEO. Reentered 18Mar1967.
Kosmos 154 - USSR 08 April 1967
Zond/L-1P manned precursor. Separation failure in LEO. Reentered 10Apr1967.
Surveyor 3 - USA 17 April 1967
Soft landing on 20Apr1967 near 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, site of Apollo 12 landing 2-1/2 years later. Tx'd photos & soil experiments until 03May1967. Return to Lunar map.
Lunar Orbiter 4 - USA 04 May 1967
Transmitted 163 frames; impacted on 06Oct1967 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Surveyor 4 - USA 14 July 1967
Lost contact 150 sec. before crashing on 17Jul1967 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
Lunar Orbiter 5 - USA 01 August 1967
Transmitted ??? frames; impacted on 31Jan1968 at xx N x yyy W; end of mapping pgm. Return to Lunar map.
Surveyor 5 - USA 08 September 1967
Soft landing on 11Sep1967 at xx N x yyy W, tx'd 19,000 photos & soil analysis until ?. Return to Lunar map.
name? Zond (-3?) - USSR 27 September 1967
(date may be wrong, not corroborated in Proton Manual. Launch failure (SL-12 Proton). Was this a lunar attempt? "Zond-2" designator already earmarked for Mars '64, "Zond-3" for Luna in '65.
Surveyor 6 - USA 07 November 1967
Soft landing on 10Nov1967 at xx N x yyy W, first rocket takeoff from Moon. Return to Lunar map.
Apollo 4 - USA 09 November 1967
First flight of Apollo+Saturn V booster, reentered 09Nov1967.
Zond (4A or L1#5L) - USSR 22 November 1967
Flyby attempt. 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton).
Surveyor 7 - USA 07 January 1968
Soft landing on 10Jan1968 at xx N x yyy W, Surveyor pgm ends. Return to Lunar map.
Apollo 5 - USA 22 January 1968
First all-up test with uprated Saturn 1, unmanned, ascent & descent stage tests, lunar module flight test, AS reentered 24Jan1968, DS reentered 12Feb1968.
Luna 14-1 - USSR 07 February 1968
Launch failure (SL-6 Molniya).
Zond 4 (L1 #6L?) - USSR 02 March 1968
Manned precursor? (SL-12 Proton), in translunar orbit?.
Apollo 6 - USA 04 April 1968
Unmanned command module test with Saturn V, despite 1st stage pogo & loss of 2 engines on same side, 2nd stage malf, 3rd stage restart failure, CM reentered 04Apr1968, recovered where?.
Luna 14 - USSR 07 April 1968
Earth-moon mass & gravity study, in lunar orbit.
Zond (Heavy Soyuz/Zond or L1 #7L) - USSR 22 April 1968
Manned lunar precursor?, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton).
Zond 5 - USSR 14 September 1968
First lunar flyaround, reentered 21Sep1968, recovered in Indian Ocean.
Apollo 7 - USA 11 October 1968
First manned Apollo flight (Schirra, Cunningham, Eisele) on Saturn 1B with CM & SM, 163 earth orbits, reentered 22Oct1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean.
Zond 6 - USSR 10 November 1968
Second unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, capsule depressurized during return, double dip reentry with aero lifting, chute failed, crash landed in USSR 17Nov1968.
Apollo 8 - USA 21 December 1968
First manned circumlunar flight (Borman, Lovell, Anders), on Saturn V, no LM, 10 lunar orbits, reentered 27Dec1968, recovered in Pacific Ocean.
ASR Luna 15A - USSR 20 January 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton).
N-1 #3L - USSR 21 February 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+69 sec. See Ed Cameron's N-1 page.
Apollo 9 - USA 03 March 1969
First flight of LM (+CM & SM) on Saturn V, redocking (McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart), reentered 13Mar1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean.
Apollo 10 - USA 18 May 1969
Second manned circumlunar flight (Stafford, Young, Cernan) on Saturn V, approached 15 km, reentered 26May1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean.
ASR Luna 15B - USSR 04 June 1969
Automated sample return, 2nd stage failure (SL-12 Proton).
Luna (?) - USSR 14 June 1969
Launch failure from Tyuratam (SL-? ?).
N-1 #5L - USSR 03 July 1969
1st stage failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+0.25 sec. destroying launch facility. Docking mission of Manned Heavy Soyuz on SL-13 (D-1 or Proton) for same day 03Jul1969 scrubbed.
Luna 15C - USSR 13 July 1969
Attempted sample return? or manned precursor? crash landing on 21Jul1969 at xx N x yyy W in Mare Crisium, after 52 orbits and 2 burns. Return to Lunar map.
Apollo 11 - USA 16 July 1969
First human landing on the Moon 2017 UT 20Jul1969 (Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin in LM, Michael Collins in CM) at 0.71 N × 23.63 E in Mare Tranquillitatis, 2:56 hr EVA, 21.6 hr on surface, 30 orbits, reentered 24Jul1969 w/21.7 kg of lunar rocks, recovered in Pacific Ocean. EALSEP science station returned data until ??Sep1969. Return to Lunar map.
Zond 7 - USSR 07 August 1969
3rd Soviet unmanned circumlunar lunar flight, reentered & landed in USSR 14Aug1969.
Kosmos 300 (ASR Luna 16A) - USSR 23 September 1969
Automated sample return, 3rd/4th stage separation failure, stages & payload reentered 27Sep1969.
Kosmos 305 (Luna 16B Rover) - USSR 22 October 1969
Lunar lander and rover, 4th escape stage fired wrong vector, stage & payload reentered 24Oct1969.
Apollo 12 - USA 14 November 1969
Second human landing on the Moon on19Nov1969 (Pete Conrad & ALan Bean in LM, Richard Gordon in CM) at 2.94 S × 23.45 W in Oceanus Procellarum, very close to site of Surveyor 3. 2 EVAs, 31.6 hr on surface, reentered 24Nov1969, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 34.4 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP12 science station returned data until 01Oct1977. Return to Lunar map.
Luna (LK?) - USSR 28 November 1969
Soviet L-1E lunar module first test flight. 2nd stage failure (SL-13 Proton).
ASR Luna 16C - USSR 06 February 1970
1st stage failure; range safety destruct (SL-12 Proton). Also test of L-1E module?
Apollo 13 - USA 11 April 1970
Explosion of oxygen tank in SM aborted mission (James Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise), reentered after circumlunar flight 17Apr1970, recovered in Pacific Ocean.
ASR Luna 16D - USSR 12 September 1970
Lander touched down on 20Sep1970 at 0.41 S × 56.3 E in Mare Fecunditatis, returned 105 gram soil sample. See a video of the Soviet ASR probe landing with retrorockets, scooping up a soil sample, and blasting off again on our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S. Return to Lunar map.
Zond 8 - USSR 20 October 1970
Flew by Moon, reentered 27Oct1970.
Luna 17 - USSR 10 November 1970
Lunokhod-1 rover and lander set down on 17Nov1970 @ 38.28 N x 35 W in Mare Imbrium, traversed 80? km over 11 months, tx'd 200 pans, 20,000+ pix, soil analyses. See a video of the Soviet moon rover in action on our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 379 - USSR 24 November 1970
Successful test of Soviet T2K lander minus legs in LEO on SL-13 Proton D-1? Reentered 21Sep1983.
Kosmos 382 - USSR 02 December 1970
Prototype Soviet lunar orbiter LK flight test on SL-13 Proton D-1. Modified Zond and flight qual for Blok D stage. In 2464 km × 5189 km × 55.9 ° earth orbit.
Apollo 14 - USA 31 January 1971
Third human landing on the Moon on 05Feb1971 (Alan Shepard & Edgar Mitchell in LM, Stuart Roosa in CM) at 3.67 S × 17.46 W at Fra Mauro, ? EVAs, ? hr on surface, played first round of lunar golf, reentered 09Feb1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 42.9 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP14 science station returned data until 01Oct1977. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 398 - USSR 26 February 1971
Second unmanned test of Soviet lunar lander T2K on SL-13 Proton D-1 booster, reentered 10Dec1995.
N-1 #6L - USSR 27 June (or July?) 1971
1st stage launch failure of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) carrying mockups of LK & T2K at T+51 sec.
Apollo 15 - USA 26 July 1971
Fourth human landing on the Moon on 30Jul1971 (David Scott & James Irwin in LM, Alfred Worden in CM) at 26.11 N × 3.66 E at Hadley Rille near lunar Appenines. First manned lunar rover, ? roving EVAs + 1 EVA on return trajectory, traversed 11.2 km in ? hr on surface. Reentered 07Aug1971, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 76.8 kg of lunar samples. ALSEP15 science station on surface returned data until 01Oct1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 04Aug1971, data return until ??Jul1972, in lunar orbit. For more details, see The Apollo 15 Flight Journal. The AFJ is a companion to the ALSJ? and records the flight of Apollo 15 using air/ground transcripts, commentary and photographs. Return to Lunar map.
Kosmos 434 - USSR 12 August 1971
Test of manned lunar hdwe T2K? on SL-4 Soyuz booster, reentered 12Aug1981.
Luna 18 - USSR 02 September 1971
Objective? impacted after 54 orbits on 11Sep1971 at 3.57 N x 50.5 E in Mare Fecunditatis. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 19 - USSR 28 September 1971
Orbiter returned lunar photos, in lunar orbit.
Luna 20 - USSR 14 February 1972
Lander & automated sample return set down @ 3 ° 32 min N × 56 ° 33 min E near Apollonius in Mare Fecunditatis. Capsule & 55 gram (or 30 g?) soil sample recovered 25Feb1972. See a video of the Soviet ASR probe landing with retrorockets, scooping up a soil sample, and blasting off again on our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S. Return to Lunar map.
Apollo 16 - USA 16 April 1972
Fifth human landing on the Moon on 23?Apr1972 (John Young & Charles Duke in LM, T.K. Mattingly in CM) at 9.00 S × 16.00 E at Descartes crater, ? roving EVAs on surface + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 71 hr on surface, reentered 27Apr1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 94.7 kg samples. ALSEP16 science station returned data until 01Oct1977. P&F subsatellite launched from CM on 24Apr1972, impacted 29May1972 at xx N x yyy W. Return to Lunar map.
N-1 #7L - USSR 23 November 1972
Erroneous? range safety destruct of superbooster (SL-15 N-1) at T+107 sec during 1st stage fire, 2nd stage probably was OK. End of N-1 program.
Apollo 17 - USA 07 December 1972
Sixth and last human landing on the Moon on 15Dec1972 (Gene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt in LM, Ronald Evans in CM) at 20.17 N × 30.75 E at Taurus Littrow, ? roving EVAs on surface for 30.5 km (longest = 7:37 hr) + 1 EVA on return trajectory, 75 hr on surface, found Genesis rock, reentered 19Dec1972, recovered in Pacific Ocean. Returned 110.5 kg samples. ALSEP17 science station returned data until 01Oct1977. Return to Lunar map.
Luna 21 - USSR 08 January 1973
Lunokhod-2 rover set down on 15?Jan1973 @ approx 25.85 N × 30.45 E in Mare Serenitatis near Le Monnier crater-ring, traversed 37? km for five months, returned 80,000+ pix. See a video of the Soviet moon landing and rolling off its platform on our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S. Return to Lunar map.
Explorer 49 - USA 10 June 1973
Radioastronomy Explorer B in lunar orbit. (probably a deep space mission so located for radio silence)
Mariner 10 - USA 03 November 1973
Flyby of the Moon, returned pix, on way to flyby of Venus in 1974 and three flybys of Mercury in 1974, in solar orbit, died at ? km on when?.
Luna 22 - USSR 29 May 1974
Lunar probe, in orbit.
Luna 23 - USSR 28 October 1974
Impacted in Mare Crisium on 06Nov1974. Return to Lunar map.
ASR Luna 24A - USSR 16 October 1975
4th? stage failure (SL-12 Proton).
Luna 24B - USSR 09 August 1976
Last Soviet/Russian lunar mission. Lander & automated sample return set down @ 12.75 N × 62.20 E in Mare Crisium. Returned 170 grams & recovered 18Aug1976. Return to Lunar map.
Galileo - USA 18 October 1989
Robotic interplanetary probe on circuitous six-year trajectory with multiple gravity assists, launch delayed by Challenger disaster, launched from Shuttle Atlantis in LEO (STS-34) on IUS, high gain antenna failed, data tx on low gain
Flew by Venus once on 09Feb1990
Flew by Earth/Moon system twice during gravity assists in 08Dec1990 and 08Dec1992 on trajectory to Jupiter, discovered Aitken Basin on South Pole (largest impact basin in solar system?);
Flew thru asteroid belt twice in 1991 and 1993
now active in circumjovian orbit.
Muses A (Hiten) - Japan 24 January 1990
Probe flew by Moon 15?Mar1990, reentered (Earth?) 11Apr1993.
Hagoromo - Japan 19 March 1994
Deployed from Muses A, contact lost after separation, in lunar orbit.
Clementine 1 - USA 25 January 1994
Lunar mapper entered orbit 19Feb1994; detected possible signs of water at poles, spun out of control during burn to intercept near Earth asteroid 1620 Geographos on 07May1994, died, in solar orbit.
Wind - USA 01 November 1994
Solar wind monitor. In 0.567 x 1.62 million km x 21.8 ° "distant prograde earth orbit". 32nd lunar flyby @ 7600 km on 19Aug2000. Science return from Moon?
HGS-1 (was AsiaSat 3S) - USA 24 December 1997
Comsat stranded in useless transfer orbit by 4th stage malfunction (SL-12 Proton). Repurchased by builder, succcessfully rescued via double lunar flyby using new resonant orbital hopping theory. In GEO. Data returned from lunar flyby?
Lunar Prospector - USA 07 January 1998
Mapped gravity & elemental distribution inc. hydrogen (water) with magnetometer, and alpha, gamma, & neutron spectrometers from low polar orbit; impacted on 31Jul1999 at xx S x yyy W near the south pole. First human burial (sample of Gene Shoemaker's ashes) on another celestial body. Return to Lunar map.
Nozomi (Planet B) - Japan 03 July 1998
Orbiter will arrive 4 years late in Sep2003 due to wrong burn during second slingshot by Moon. Data returned from lunar flyby?

Note: after much thought, I decided to include in this class any missions which took place in LEO but were solely dedicated to developing Lunar exploration. After all, many of these milestones were critical to the eventual success of the Moon landings. Space physics experiments of broad applicability (e.g. radiation measurement, magnetic mapping) were not included for this reason. Multiple visits to the same body by the same spacecraft (e.g. GEM) do not count as multiple missions (even if they do require multiple visits to Capitol Hill for funding). Multiple visits to different primaries do. A mere gravity assist maneuver without science return doesn't really count as a mission, either - a "flyby" requires at least one instrument to be pointed in the general direction of the celestial body. This was not an accounting issue until a few Big Science missions (e.g. Galileo, Project Vega) flew some very complex trajectories with multiple gravity assists.

Credit goes out to TRW Space Log 1957-1996, The Planetary Report published by The Planetary Society, Proton Mission Planner's Manual, and Jonathan's Space Report. A tip o' the #2 amber solar filter to David Portree DSFPortree@aol.com for his sharp eyes.

Future Missions to the Moon

Orion 3? - USA 2000?
Possible science return from rescue mission via lunar flyby.
Transorbital - TransOrbital (private USA)(Strela) July 2001.
Orbiter with telescope + HDTV camera for hi-res mapping. Will impact surface with souvenir payload and cremains after 3 months. $15M.
Lunar Explorer Orbiter - Japan 2002.
Bus will release lander and subsatellite prior to entering polar orbit.
SMART 1 - ESA November 2002 - November 2003.
350 kg orbiter will cruise to moon using solar electric propulsion. 85M euros. Piggyback on Ariane 5. Duration 30 months.
LunarSat - Astrium 2003.
120 kg orbiter will cruise to moon using solar electric propulsion. 15M euros. Piggyback on Ariane 5. Duration 15 months.
Celestis #? - Celestis (private-USA) 2002-3
Lunar burial via impact of N? x 2-gram cremains.
Lunar A - Japan (ISAS) February 2003.
540 kg orbiter will drop 2-3 x 16 kg penetrators. Launch on M-V. Delayed 4 years due to dev problems.
SELENE A - Japan (NASDA/ISAS) August 2004.
Revised SELenogical and ENgineering Explorer will map and image from orbit. 1700 kg includes 2 x 43, 35 kg subsatellites, "Rstar" and "Vstar". Launch on H-IIA. Duration 1 year.
Lunar Retriever 1 - Applied Space Resources (private-USA) 2003?
Lander and rover to collect and return 10 kg of regolith from Mare Nectaris. $75M
unknown - unknown (private USA)(Taurus) 2003?
Lander and rover?
Icebreaker Moon Rover - LunaCorp (private USA) 2004.
Virtual reality rover to prospect for water at lunar pole near Peary Crater. $120M
Lunar Return - USA (NASA) 2005.
Discovery class mission of integrated lander/rover to prospect for water at south lunar pole. Duration 1 year. $250M One or the other below.
Moonraker - USA (NASA) 2005.
Discovery class mission with sample return to prospect for water at Aitken Basin (south lunar pole). Duration 15 days. $250M One or the other above.
SELENE B - Japan (NASDA/ISAS) 2005-2006.
SELenogical and ENgineering Explorer. Orbiter and lander, total ~2 tonnes. Launch on H-IIA. Duration 6 months.
Indian Lunar Remote Sensing Satellite - India (ISRO) 2007-2008.
250 kg miniaturized IRS satellite with hi-res imaging. Launch on uprated PSLV plus extra upper stage. $250M
SELENE 2 - Japan (NASDA/ISAS) 2008-2009.
Follow on to earlier SELENEs with orbiter, lander, small rover, and up to 7 penetrators. Launch on H-IIA. Duration 1 year.
(proposed) Tsinghua Rover - China (Tsinghua University). no date
The solar powered rover has six wheels and is equipped with a 3D camera.

Notes about the Lunar Atlas

What's Coming to this Page:
Lunar Farside grayscale map. A false color map of elemental distribution at the poles will be added to this atlas someday. SL-nn launch vehicle designators with be replaced with a more logical system soon. Your comments are welcome: robot@ultimax.com

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