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A Moon landing is defined as a spacecraft arriving on the Moon’s surface, either crewed or robotic.
A Moon landing (lunar landing) is the arrival of a spacecraft—crewed or robotic—on the Moon’s surface. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was Luna 2 in 1959, while the first crewed landing was Apollo 11 in 1969. Between 1969 and 1972, six crewed landings were carried out by the U.S. Apollo program; after Apollo ended in December 1972, soft landings did not occur again until Chang’e 3 in 2013. Most landings are uncrewed, and all successful soft landings occurred on the Moon’s near side until Chang’e 4 in 2019. The scope of Moon landings includes both “hard” and “soft” outcomes. Hard landings are intentional high-speed impacts (or crash landings), while soft landings decelerate to near-negligible speed at contact and are the only practical option for human missions. Achieving a landing requires leaving Earth’s gravity well (typically by rocket), then decelerating for safe surface contact; for soft landings, a landing rocket provides the needed delta-v. The broader mission scope also includes the supporting infrastructure and operations needed for crewed missions, such as lunar-orbit rendezvous and site selection, which became central after early direct-to-surface attempts. Uncrewed lunar orbiters mapped the Moon and helped identify hazards (including mascons) that could disrupt trajectories during final landing.
A Moon landing is defined as a spacecraft arriving on the Moon’s surface, either crewed or robotic.
Soft landings require strong deceleration to survive contact; hard/crash landings involve intentional or accidental high-speed impacts.
Crewed landings (Apollo) depended on mission planning beyond direct ascent, including lunar-orbit operations for efficient return and safe landing-site selection.
Lunar orbiters revealed hazards such as mascons that can perturb orbits and complicate targeting small landing zones.
The arrival of a crewed or robotic spacecraft on the Moon’s surface.
A landing in which the spacecraft decelerates to near-negligible speed at contact, minimizing damage (the only practical option for humans).
An intentional high-speed impact with significant crash conditions, used for early lunar missions such as Luna 2.
The change in velocity needed to perform maneuvers such as decelerating for landing, typically provided by a landing rocket.
Dense subsurface mass concentrations beneath the lunar maria that can disturb spacecraft trajectories and complicate precise landing.
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