This is a partial list of artificial materials left on the Moon, many during the missions of the Apollo program. The table below does not include lesser Apollo mission artificial objects, such as a hammer and other tools, retroreflectors, Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages, or the commemorative, artistic, and personal objects left by the twelve Apollo astronauts, such as the United States flags, the commemorative plaques attached to the ladders of the six Apollo Lunar Modules, the silver astronaut pin left by Alan Bean in honor of Clifton C. Williams whom he replaced, the Bible left by David Scott, the Fallen Astronaut statuette and memorial plaque placed by the crew of Apollo 15, the Apollo 11 goodwill messages disc, or the golf balls Alan Shepard hit during an Apollo 14 moonwalk.
960x960px|A map depicting all known locations of artificial objects on the Moon from 1959 to 2025
Five S-IVB third stages of Saturn V rockets from the Apollo program crashed into the Moon, and are the heaviest human-made objects on the lunar surface. Humans have left over of material on the Moon. Besides the 2019 Chang'e 4 and SLIM missions, the only artificial objects on the Moon that are still in use are the retroreflectors for the Lunar Laser Ranging experiments left there by the Apollo 11, 14, and 15 astronauts, Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, and by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 and Lunokhod 2 missions.
Objects at greater than 90 degrees east or west are on the far side of the Moon, including Ranger 4, Lunar Orbiter 1, Lunar Orbiter 2, Lunar Orbiter 3, Chang'e 4 lander and Yutu-2 rover.
Because of increasing numbers of missions to and objects at the Moon, a global registry of lunar activities has been proposed in 2023 by the Open Lunar Foundation.
List
Legend
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center;"
|-
! style="background:" colspan="2" | Colors
|-
| style="background:#ffb7b7; width:20px;" |
| Crashed (unintentionally)
|-
| style="width:20px;" |
| Impactor or post-mission crashed
|-
| style="background:#FCF2CF; width:20px;" |
| Landed
|-
| style="background:#ddf2d8; width:20px;" |
| Operational
|}
Table of objects
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash"
|-
! align=left | Artificial object
! align=center | Image
! align=center | Country
! align=center | Year
! align=center | Mass (lb)
! align=center | Mass (kg)
! align=left | Status
! align=right | Location
! align=right | Notes
|-
| Luna 2
| 80x80px|center
|
| align=center| 1959
| align=right |
| align=right | 390
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 2<br/>Third stage of Vostok rocket
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1959
| align=right |
| align=right | 9,100
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Ranger 4
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1962
| align=right |
| align=right | 331
| align=left | Crashed (controlled impact failed)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Ranger 6
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1964
| align=right |
| align=right | 381
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Ranger 7
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1964
| align=right |
| align=right | 365
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Luna 5
|
|
| align=center| 1965
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,474
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Luna 7
|
|
| align=center| 1965
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,504
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Luna 8
|
|
| align=center| 1965
| align=right | (launch mass)
| align=right | 1552 (launch mass)
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Ranger 8
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1965
| align=right |
| align=right | 367
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Ranger 9
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1965
| align=right |
| align=right | 367
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 9 spacecraft/descent stage
||80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right | (before lander capsule ejection)
| align=right | 1538 (before lander capsule ejection)
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 9 Automated Lunar Station (ALS) airbag and lander capsule
||80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 99
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 11
|
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,640
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 12
|
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,670
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Surveyor 1 (separate from descent stage)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 270
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 13 (separate from descent stage)
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 113
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Orbiter 1
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 386
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Surveyor 2
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 292
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Orbiter 2
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 385
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Orbiter 3
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1966
| align=right |
| align=right | 386
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Surveyor 3 (separate from descent stage)
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 281
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Orbiter 4
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 386
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Surveyor 4
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 283
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Explorer 35
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 104
| align=left | Crashed <br/> (post mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Orbiter 5
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 386
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Surveyor 5 (separate from descent stage)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 281
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Surveyor 6 (separate from descent stage)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1967
| align=right |
| align=right | 282
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Surveyor 7 (separate from descent stage)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1968
| align=right |
| align=right | 290
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 14
|
|
| align=center| 1968
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,670
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 10<br/>LM-4 Snoopy descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,211
| align=left | Likely crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 11<br/>LM-5 Eagle descent stage
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,034
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Luna 15
|
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,718
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-
| Apollo 11<br/>LM-5 Eagle ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,184
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission) or in orbit
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 12<br/>LM-6 Intrepid descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,211
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 12<br/>LM-6 Intrepid ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1969
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,164
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 16 descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1970
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,380
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 17 and Lunokhod 1
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1970
| align=right |
| align=right | 5,600
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 13<br/>S-IVB (S-IVB-508)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1970
| align=right |
| align=right | 13,454
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Luna 18
|
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,880
| align=left | Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 19
|
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,880
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 14<br/>S-IVB (S-IVB-509)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 14,016
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 14<br/>LM-8 Antares descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,144
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 14<br/>LM-8 Antares ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,132
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 15<br/>S-IVB (S-IVB-510)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 14,036
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 15<br/>LM-10 Falcon descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,809
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 15<br/>Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV-1)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 210
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 15<br/>LM-10 Falcon ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,132
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 15 subsatellite
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1971
| align=right |
| align=right | 36
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 20 descent stage
|
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right |
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 16<br/>S-IVB (S-IVB-511)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 14,002
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 16<br/>LM-11 Orion descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,765
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 16<br/>Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV-2)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 210
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 16<br/>LM-11 Orion ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,138
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 16 subsatellite
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 36
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 17<br/>S-IVB (S-IVB-512)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 13,960
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 17<br/>LM-12 Challenger descent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,798
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Apollo 17<br/>Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV-3)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 210
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Apollo 17<br/>LM-12 Challenger ascent stage
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1972
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,150
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|- <!-- NOT ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS
| 96 bags of human waste (urine, feces, vomit)
|
|
| align=center| 1969–1972
| align=right |
| align=right |
| align=left | Discarded on surface by astronauts
| align=left | Near to all Apollo landing sites
| align=center| -->
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 21 and Lunokhod 2
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1973
| align=right |
| align=right | 4,850
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Explorer 49 (RAE-B)
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 1973
| align=right |
| align=right | 328
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Luna 22
|
|
| align=center| 1974
| align=right |
| align=right | 4,000
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 23
|
|
| align=center| 1974
| align=right |
| align=right | 5,600
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Luna 24 descent stage
|
|
| align=center| 1976
| align=right |
| align=right |
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Hagoromo<br/>Hiten
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1990
| align=right |
| align=right | 12
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(not confirmed/post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Hiten
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1993
| align=right |
| align=right | 143
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)/Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Lunar Prospector
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 1998
| align=right |
| align=right | 126
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| SMART-1
| 80px|center
| 24px|link=European Space Agency European Space Agency
| align=center| 2006
| align=right |
| align=right | 307
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Moon Impact Probe (MIP)<br/>Chandrayaan-1
| center|80x80px
|
| align=center| 2008
| align=right |
| align=right | 35
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| SELENE Rstar (Okina)
|
|
| align=center| 2009
| align=right |
| align=right | 53
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| SELENE Vstar (Ouna)
|
|
| align=center| Unknown
| align=right |
| align=right | 53
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left | Unknown
| align=center|
|-
| Chang'e 1
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2009
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,000
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| SELENE (Kaguya) main orbiter
| <!-- 80px|center nonfree image -->
|
| align=center| 2009
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,984
|-
| LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2009
| align=right |
| align=right | 700
| align=left | Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| LCROSS Centaur
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2009
| align=right |
| align=right | 2,270
| align=left | Impactor
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| GRAIL
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2012
| align=right |
| align=right | 133
| align=left | Crashed<br/>(post-mission)
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|- style="background:#ddf2d8;
| Chang'e 3 lander
|
|
| align=center| 2013
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,200
| align=left | Landed/operational
| align=left |
| align=center| <!--Planned, not the outcome: -->
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
| Chang'e 3<br/>Yutu rover
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2013
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,200
| align=left | Landed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|- style="background:#ddf2d8;
| Chang'e 4<br/>Yutu-2 rover
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2019
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,200
| align=left | Landed/operational
|
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Beresheet
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2019
| align=right |
| align=right | 150
| Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
| Longjiang-2
|
|
| align=center | 2019
| align=right |
| align=right | 47
| Crashed (post-mission)
|
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
| Chandrayaan-2<br/>Vikram lander<br/>Pragyan rover
| 80px|center
|
| align=center| 2019
| align=right |
| align=right | 1,471
| Crashed
| align=left |
| align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|Chang'e 5 descent stage<br/>
|
|
| align=center| 2020
| align=right |7,055
| align=right |3,200
|Landed
| align=left |
|
|-
|Chang'e 5 ascent stage<br/>
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2020
| align=right |>1543
| align=right |>700
| Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
|
|-
|Chang'e 5-T1 third stage rocket
|
|
| align=center| 2022
| align=right |6100
| align=right |2,800
|Crashed (post-mission)
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|Manfred Memorial Moon Mission
|
|
| align=center| 2022
| align=right |31
| align=right |14
|Crashed (post-mission together with Chang'e 5-T1 third stage rocket)
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
|Hakuto-R Mission 1
|80px|center
|
| rowspan="2" align=center| 2023
| rowspan="2" align=right |750
| rowspan="2" align=right |340
| rowspan="2" |Crashed
| rowspan="2" align=left |
| rowspan="2" align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
|Emirates Lunar Mission
|
|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
|Luna 25
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2023
| align=right | 3,860
| align=right | 1,750
| Crashed
|
| align=center |
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|Chandrayaan-3<br/>Vikram lander<br/>Pragyan rover
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2023
| align=right | 3,863
| align=right | 1,752
| Landed
|
| align=center |
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|SLIM
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2024
| align=right | 259.4
| align=right | 118.7
| Landed
|
| align=center |
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|LEV-1
|
|
| align=center| 2024
| align=right | 4.6
| align=right | 2.1
| Landed
|
| align=center |
|-style="background:#fcf2cf"
|Chang'e 6 descent stage<br/>
|rowspan=2|
|
| align=center| 2024
| align=right|7,055
| align=right|3,200
| align=left rowspan=2|Landed
| align=left rowspan=2|
| align=center rowspan=2|
|-style="background:#fcf2cf"
|Jinchan rover<br/>
|
| align=center| 2024
|align=right|11
|align=right|5
|-
|Chang'e 6 ascent stage<br/>
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2024
| align=right |>1543
| align=right |>700
|Crashed (post-mission)
| align=left |
|
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|Blue Ghost M1
| frameless
|
| align=center | 2025
| align=right | 1034
| align=right | 469
| Landed
|
|
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
|Hakuto-R Mission 2 Resilience
| 80px|center
|
| rowspan="2" align=center| 2025
|750
|340
| rowspan="2" |Crashed
| rowspan="2" align=left |
| rowspan="2" align=center|
|-
|-style="background:#ffb7b7"
|Tenacious rover
|
|
|11
|5
|-style="background:#FCF2CF"
|IM-2 Athena<br>MAPP LV1<br>Micro-Nova<br>AstroAnt<br>Yaoki
|80px|center
|
| align=center| 2025
| align=right | 4,231<!-- mass estimate-->
| align=right | 1,919
| Landed
|
| align=center |
|- class="sortbottom static-row-header"
! colspan="4" align="left" | Total estimated dry mass
! align="right" | 482,435
! align="right" | 218,829
! colspan="3" align="left" | 40 major objects landed softly
|}
<!--
XXXX-XX-XX: total mass is 163,648 + 127 + 127 + 1000, where 1254 was added to match masses reported in the three Luna program sample return mission articles
YYYY-YY-YY: Mass adjusted by (-2249 + 2270 + 700) to reflect actual masses of LCROSS Centaur and spacecraft - ~~~~
2013-12-16: New mass after Chang'e 3 is 178,796 + 1,200 = 179,996
2020-12-06: The mass of Chang'e 5 can't be determined and is calculated based on total mass, including orbiter. 191,012+8,200 = 199,212. More accurate data pending.
2024-01-19: To prevent approximation errors the stats post-SLIM landing have been updated by adding the dry mass of SLIM at launch (which includes the two rovers) and not the individual masses of each spacecraft, despite them being available
2024-02-22: Added IM-1 and EagleCam mass
2024-04-27: Chang'e 6 mass added as Chang'e 5
2025-01-15: Added Hakuto-R Mission 2 composite, IM-2 composite and Blue Ghost M1 mass
-->
Image gallery
<gallery>
File:Moon landing map.jpg|Map of the Moon showing some landing sites. (Click to enlarge)
File:Surveyor 3 on the Moon.jpg|Surveyor 3 on the Moon, photographed by Alan Bean during Apollo 12 (1969)
File:Lunar retroreflector locations.jpg|Locations of retro reflector experiments
File:Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment.jpg|Lunar Laser Ranging experiment (LRRR)
File:Moon Soft Landings.svg|Map of all soft landings
</gallery>
See also
- Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package
- Deliberate crash landings on extraterrestrial bodies
- Human presence in space
- List of artificial objects on extraterrestrial surfaces
- List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies
- List of missions to the Moon
- List of retroreflectors on the Moon
- Lunar plaques
- Moon landing
- Timeline of Solar System exploration
- Tourism on the Moon
Notes
Footnotes
References
External links
- NASA catalogue of manmade material on the Moon
- List of Apollo 11 artifacts on the Moon
- Lunar Litter: A short film about debris left behind on crewed Moon missions