Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration

This chronology gives a list of known (successful and unsuccessful) lunar and planetary missions including a few historical missions which were instrumental in the development and evolution of space exploration. The timeline can be viewed in its entirety (about 45 K in size):

1957 - Future

or in smaller 'bite-size' chunks (~ 12 K each):

1957 - 1964
1965 - 1969
1970 - 1979
1980 - Present
Future Missions

On the timeline, each mission is listed with the launch date, country of origin and primary objective. Choosing a mission leads to a more detailed description of the mission and spacecraft, and links to information on the experiments carried by the mission, data returned, launch/orbital history, telecommunications and other pertinent pages.

Lunar Exploration Chronology

Venus Exploration Chronology

Mars Exploration Chronology

U.S. Astronaut Mission Chronology

If you don't see a mission listed on these pages, you may wish to query the complete NSSDC Master Catalog by typing in a name in the space below.

Planetary Home Page

NASA Official: Ed Grayzeck, edwin.j.grayzeck@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 29 November 2007, DRW