CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Achieving a successful moon landing has been a challenging pursuit, marked by various successes and failures over the years.
The latest setback occurred when Intuitive Machines experienced another flawed landing under NASA’s commercial lunar program. Within just 24 hours, the lander’s power source depleted, ceasing its mission entirely.
In contrast, Intuitive Machines’ prior mission lasted somewhat longer, marking a significant milestone as it symbolized the United States’ return to the moon since the conclusion of the Apollo missions.
Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace, another American private enterprise, achieved a significant success early this week with its lunar lander, making history as the first private entity to manage a fully successful moon landing.
These two Texas-based companies are integral to NASA’s initiative to facilitate commercial moon deliveries, paving the way for subsequent astronaut missions planned for later in the decade.
Historically, the moon has become a graveyard for many failed landing attempts. Here’s a look into the triumphs and setbacks in lunar exploration:
Initial achievements
The Soviet Union made headlines in 1966 with Luna 9, which was the first successful touchdown on the moon, setting the stage for future landings despite earlier miss-steps. The United States followed suit four months later with Surveyor 1, intensifying the competition to send humans to the moon.
The era of Apollo
NASA declared victory in the space race against the Soviet Union in 1969, as Apollo 11, piloted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, successfully landed on the moon. During a span of six missions, twelve astronauts explored the moon’s surface before the Apollo program concluded with Apollo 17 in 1972. To date, the U.S. stands as the only nation to have sent humans to the lunar surface, with aspirations to return astronauts by 2026 after a scheduled lunar orbit mission.
China’s ascent
In 2013, China joined this elite group, marking its first successful moon landing with a rover known as Yutu, meaning “jade rabbit.” Another accomplishment came in 2019 with Yutu-2, which made history by landing on the moon’s uncharted far side. In 2020, a further mission returned nearly 4 pounds of lunar samples, preluding another sample extraction from the moon’s lesser-known far side planned for 2024. As a formidable competitor to NASA, China has set its sights on a manned moon landing by 2030.
Russia’s difficulties
In 2023, Russia attempted its first moon landing in nearly 50 years with Luna 25, but the mission ended in a crash. Previously, Luna 24 in 1976 had successfully landed and returned with moon samples.
India’s achievement
After a failed lunar landing in 2019, India made a comeback in 2023 with Chandrayaan-3, marking its successful lunar touchdown. This positioned India as the fourth nation to accomplish a moon landing, occurring mere days after Russia’s unsuccessful attempt.
Japan’s efforts
Japan became the fifth nation to successfully land on the moon, albeit its spacecraft landed incorrectly, hindering solar power generation. Despite this setback, the mission briefly provided images and scientific data before succumbing to the lunar night.
Privately funded moon missions
Israel’s Beresheet lander made an attempt in 2019 but ended in a crash. Similarly, ispace, a Japanese company, launched a moon mission in 2023 that also resulted in failure.
Intuitive Machines marked an achievement as the first private entity to land safely on the moon, though its lander did tip over in 2024. Another U.S. company, Astrobotic Technology, faced a fuel leak and had to abandon its mission, ultimately losing its spacecraft upon re-entry.
This year’s entrepreneurial push to the moon saw Firefly securing a successful landing with its Blue Ghost lunar mission, completing experiments for NASA. Intuitive Machines followed with another overturned landing. As the commercial race to the moon continues, ispace from Japan aims for a new landing on June 5, sharing its initial journey with Blue Ghost when launched in January.
