Exploring the Moon 

A history of lunar discovery from the first

space probes to recent times 

by Ian Ridpath 

Contents

1.

The first robot explorers

2.

Landers and orbiters – 1

3.

Landers and orbiters – 2

4.

Sample returns and lunar rovers

5.

Map of lunar landings

6.

Table of Moon probes

7.

Apollo to the Moon!

8.

Meeting the challenge

9.

Repeating the feat

10.

Driving on the Moon

11.

Heading for the hills

12.

Apollo lunar mission chronology

13.

Russia’s secret manned Moon programme

14.

What did we learn from Apollo?

15.

Lunar exploration since Apollo

16.

The international Moon fleet

17.

Exploring the Apollo landing sites – 1

18.

Exploring the Apollo landing sites – 2

19.

Exploring the Moon on stamps

Background image:

The waning crescent Moon. 

(European Southern Observatory) 

Text © Ian Ridpath

These pages support Ian’s talk on Exploring the Moon