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:

Full Chronology (1957 - Future)

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.

Specialized chronologies are also available:

Lunar Exploration Chronology

Venus Exploration Chronology

Mars Exploration Chronology

U.S. Astronaut (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo) Chronology

Search for Mission Information

To search for information on any mission, enter the spacecraft name in the box below.

Planetary Home Page

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 18 May 2020, DRW