Six Apollo missions successfully landed astronauts on the Moon. Mission Launch Date Landing Site Notable Achievement Apollo 11 July 16, 1969 Mare Tranquillitatis First human landing on the Moon Apollo 12 November 14, 1969 Oceanus Procellarum Precision landing near Surveyor 3 probe Apollo 14 January...

How Many Manned Apollo Missions Were There?

There were 6 manned Apollo missions that landed on the Moon.

Geographic Context

Apollo missions landed at six distinct sites on the Moon's near side.

The sites ranged from the flat plains of Mare Tranquillitatis (where Apollo 11 touched down) to the rugged Descartes Highlands (Apollo 16). NASA picked these spots carefully—not just for their dramatic scenery, but because each offered different geological treasures. The Moon’s airless environment made it a perfect natural lab, while its steady 384,400 km distance from Earth meant astronauts could chat with Mission Control almost instantly and get home fast if trouble struck. To this day, Apollo stands alone as humanity’s only off-world walking tour.

Key Details

Six Apollo missions successfully landed astronauts on the Moon.

Mission	Launch Date	Landing Site	Notable Achievement
Apollo 11	July 16, 1969	Mare Tranquillitatis	First human landing on the Moon
Apollo 12	November 14, 1969	Oceanus Procellarum	Precision landing near Surveyor 3 probe
Apollo 14	January 31, 1971	Fra Mauro Formation	First use of the Modularized Equipment Transporter (MET)
Apollo 15	July 26, 1971	Hadley–Apennine region	First lunar rover (LRV) deployment
Apollo 16	April 16, 1972	Descartes Highlands	First landing in lunar highlands
Apollo 17	December 7, 1972	Taurus–Littrow Valley	Longest lunar surface stay (75 hours)

Additional Apollo Program Facts

The Apollo program flew 11 crewed missions total, with 6 landing on the Moon.

- Total inflation-adjusted cost (2026 dollars): roughly $257 billion - Number of astronauts who walked on the Moon: 12 - Unused Saturn V rockets left over: 3 (two are museum pieces; one stayed in storage)

Interesting Background

The Apollo program was named after the Greek sun god.

NASA’s Abe Silverstein chose “Apollo” in 1960, keeping the mythological naming trend started by Mercury and Gemini. Four years later, designers rolled out the program’s bold red-white-and-blue “A” logo: a swooping trajectory line cutting through a stylized Sun’s corona and Earth, all wrapped in a clean white border. Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt stumbled on “orange soil” near Taurus–Littrow—later confirmed as titanium- and zinc-rich volcanic glass that rewrote lunar geology textbooks. Apollo 13’s near-disaster turned into legend when the crew limped back to Earth after an oxygen tank blew, earning the nickname “successful failure.” Budget cuts killed the program after Apollo 17, pushing NASA toward the Space Shuttle and Skylab instead.

Practical Information

No humans have returned to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA’s Artemis program now plans to land the first woman and the next man at the lunar south pole no earlier than 2026. Commercial outfits and international teams are also lining up their own Moon shots. If you want to dig into the Apollo story yourself, the National Park Service and NASA’s Apollo archives have timelines, photos, and debriefs you can browse. The last three Saturn V rockets sit in museums: one at Johnson Space Center in Houston, another at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the third at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama.