The Moon

Measured

Mean radius

1,737 km

From the Earth today

402,939 km

Goes round once every

27.3 days

How far, from the Earth

403,000 km. To cross it:

• Light1.34 seconds
• Voyager 1's speed6 hours 38 minutes
• Driving at 100 km/h5.52 months

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Spacecraft that went there

• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter — Active mission (science.nasa.gov, checked 2026-11-01). There since 2009-06-23.
• Chandrayaan-2 orbiter — Reported operating: ISRO's mission page says the orbiter is healthy in a 100 km polar orbit, but the page is undated; ISRO reported new results from its radar on 2026-05-27. No later official update found. There since 2019-08-20.
• ARTEMIS-P1 (THEMIS-B) — Active by NASA's listing: THEMIS-ARTEMIS is an "Active Mission" with two craft round the Moon (science.nasa.gov, page updated 2026-08-11), though that page does not name P1 or P2. JPL's trajectory rests on tracking through 2026-10-15 (Horizons, revised 2026-10-20), so someone was tracking it then. One of five THEMIS craft launched in 2007, sent on to the Moon, in orbit since 2011. There since 2011-06-27.
• ARTEMIS-P2 (THEMIS-C) — Active by NASA's listing: THEMIS-ARTEMIS is an "Active Mission" with two craft round the Moon (science.nasa.gov, page updated 2026-08-11), though that page does not name P1 or P2. JPL's trajectory rests on tracking through 2026-10-15 (Horizons, revised 2026-10-20), so someone was tracking it then. One of five THEMIS craft launched in 2007, sent on to the Moon, in orbit since 2011. There since 2011-07-17.

On its surface

• Apollo 11 — crewed landing, 1969-07-20
• Apollo 12 — crewed landing, 1969-11-19
• Apollo 14 — crewed landing, 1971-02-05
• Apollo 15 — crewed landing, 1971-07-30
• Apollo 16 — crewed landing, 1972-04-21
• Apollo 17 — crewed landing, 1972-12-11
• Chang'e 3 — lander, 2013-12-14
• Chang'e 4 — lander, 2019-01-03
• Chang'e 5 — lander, 2020-12-01
• Chang'e 6 — lander, 2024-06-01
• Surveyor 1 — lander, 1966
• Surveyor 3 — lander, 1967
• Surveyor 5 — lander, 1967
• Surveyor 6 — lander, 1967
• Surveyor 7 — lander, 1968
• Luna 16 — lander, 1970
• Luna 17 — lander, 1970
• Lunokhod 1 — rover, 1970
• Luna 20 — lander, 1972
• Luna 21 — lander, 1973
• Lunokhod 2 — rover, 1973
• Luna 23 — lander, 1974
• Luna 24 — lander, 1976
• Ranger 6 — impact, 1964
• Ranger 7 — impact, 1964
• Ranger 8 — impact, 1965
• Ranger 9 — impact, 1965
• Apollo 13's rocket stage — impact, 1970
• Apollo 14's rocket stage — impact, 1971
• Apollo 15's rocket stage — impact, 1971
• Apollo 16's rocket stage — impact, 1972
• Apollo 17's rocket stage — impact, 1972
• GRAIL-A (Ebb) — impact, 2012
• GRAIL-B (Flow) — impact, 2012
• LADEE — impact, 2014

Where this comes from

• Planets, Pluto, the Moon and Jupiter's big moons: astronomy-engine (Don Cross, MIT). Other moons: JPL Planetary Satellite Mean Elements. Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake: JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.