how many moon landings have there been
There have been 6 crewed Moon landings, all by NASA’s Apollo program, plus many uncrewed robotic landings by several countries.
Quick Scoop: Core Numbers
- Crewed Moon landings: 6 (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17).
- Astronauts who walked on the Moon: 12 people.
- Human missions that went to the Moon (including orbit-only): 9 Apollo missions (Apollo 8–17; Apollo 13 did not land).
- Robotic missions (orbiters, landers, rovers, impactors): more than 140 Moon missions in total.
So if you mean “how many Moon landings with people on the surface,” the answer is 6; if you include uncrewed soft landers, the number is several dozen and growing.
What Counts as a “Moon Landing”?
When people ask “how many Moon landings have there been,” they might mean different things.
- Crewed landings: Only Apollo lunar module touchdowns with astronauts stepping onto the surface.
- Uncrewed soft landings: Robotic craft that touched down gently and operated on the surface (like Luna 9, Surveyor landers, modern missions from China, India, Japan, and others).
- Hard landings / impacts: Probes deliberately crashed into the Moon; these are usually not counted as “landings.”
Most popular-science and forum answers highlight the 6 Apollo landings as the iconic benchmark.
The Six Apollo Landings (Story View)
Here’s the human Moon-landing era in one glance.
| Mission | Year | Key highlight |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo 11 | 1969 | First human Moon landing; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon. |
| Apollo 12 | 1969 | Precision landing near Surveyor 3 to prove accuracy. |
| Apollo 14 | 1971 | Science-focused mission; famous for “golf shot” on the Moon. |
| Apollo 15 | 1971 | First lunar rover; longer drives and geology work. |
| Apollo 16 | 1972 | Explored lunar highlands with rover and extensive experiments. |
| Apollo 17 | 1972 | Last crewed landing so far; included first scientist- astronaut on the Moon. |
Robotic Landings and Latest News
Since the 1960s, multiple nations and agencies have landed robotic spacecraft on the Moon, including the Soviet Luna program, U.S. Surveyor, China’s Chang’e missions, and more recent landers from various countries and commercial partners. NASA’s own mission list shows an expanding catalog of orbiters and landers leading up to new Artemis-era activity and commercial landers in the 2020s.
Space news and forums often frame this as a “Moon renaissance,” contrasting the short burst of Apollo landings with today’s steady stream of robotic missions and planned crewed returns.
Forum-style takeaway
If someone in a forum asks “how many Moon landings have there been?”, the clean, pub‑debate answer is:
“Six crewed landings with 12 people walking on the Moon, plus dozens of robotic landers by several countries.”
TL;DR:
- 6 crewed Moon landings (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17).
- 12 people have walked on the Moon.
- Dozens of uncrewed soft landings and more than 140 total Moon missions so far.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.