How Many Humans Have Walked On The Moon? Meet The Elite Club

NASA's Artemis II mission will be sending a 4-member crew to venture around the Moon. This will be followed by Artemis III, which will land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.

Close-up view of an astronaut's foot and footprint on lunar soil during the first ever manned Moon mission (1969); (right) astronaut Harrison Schmitt standing next to a boulder on the lunar surface during the last human mission to the Moon (1972).

Source : NASA

Moon Missions: As NASA prepares for a return to the Moon with the Artemis II space programme, a new generation is set to leave its mark on Earth's only natural satellite. The mission, which follows the successful uncrewed Artemis I in 2022, aims to send the first woman and first person of colour to venture around the Moon, with NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch slated to make history. 

This will be followed by Artemis III mission, currently following a mid-2027 launch plan, which will be NASA’s first human mission to the South Pole of Moon. Artemis III will mark land humans on the lunar surface for the first in more than 50 years. The last crewed lunar expedition took place in 1972. 

India is also preparing for a crewed mission to the Moon, aiming to land Indians on the lunar surface by 2040.  

As humanity looks ahead to new crewed missions, do you know how many people have actually walked on the Moon before?

The answer is twelve.

Lunar Exploration History

The journey began on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Armstrong's famous words — “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind” — ushered in a new era of space exploration, while Michael Collins, also part of the mission, orbited above in the Command Module, ensuring a safe return home.

Following Apollo 11, NASA sent six more crewed missions to the Moon between 1969 and 1972. Each mission built upon its predecessor, with astronauts spending more time on the surface, conducting scientific experiments, and even using a lunar rover to explore further distances.

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Who Were The 12 Moonwalkers?

A total of 24 astronauts travelled to the Moon, but only half of them actually walked on its surface. Here is a list of those 12 moonwalkers:

1. Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11, 1969)
2. Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11, 1969)
3. Pete Conrad (Apollo 12, 1969)
4. Alan Bean (Apollo 12, 1969)
5. Alan Shepard (Apollo 14, 1971)
6. Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14, 1971)
7. David Scott (Apollo 15, 1971)
8. James Irwin (Apollo 15, 1971)
9. John Young (Apollo 16, 1972)
10. Charles Duke (Apollo 16, 1972)
11. Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17, 1972)
12. Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17, 1972)

Moon Missions That Almost Made It

One mission, Apollo 13, was meant to land on the Moon but never did. Due to an onboard explosion, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert had to abort their lunar landing. However, they still travelled around the Moon before safely returning to Earth, making Haise and Swigert the 13th and 14th people to reach lunar orbit.

Future Moon Missions

Since Apollo 17 in 1972, no human has set foot on the Moon. However, that is about to change. NASA’s Artemis programme is paving the way for the next era of lunar exploration. Artemis II will send a crewed spacecraft around the Moon, while Artemis III is set to land astronauts on the lunar surface.