GRAIL: two controlled impacts and unexpectedly dark traces
After their gravity-mapping mission, Ebb and Flow were directed into the surface. Orbital images revealed small craters with unusual e…
An explanation exists#0185
OPEN ARCHIVE
Observations
Documented events, historical claims and public reports. Event dates and review status are listed separately; unidentified does not mean extraterrestrial.
Event year, not the article publication date.
LCROSS: an impact into shadow and water in the ejecta
On October 9, 2009 a Centaur stage struck a permanently shadowed area in Cabeus. LCROSS instruments examined the ejecta and detected w…
An explanation exists#0177
Surveyor 1: footpads on the ground, a camera begins to look
On June 2, 1966 Universal Time, Surveyor 1 made the first American soft landing on the Moon and returned images of its immediate surro…
An explanation exists#0175
Ranger 7: the final minutes that brought the Moon close
On July 31, 1964 Ranger 7 transmitted thousands of images before its planned impact. The sequence revealed lunar terrain in detail bey…
An explanation exists#0173
Lunokhod 1: eleven lunar days and the rediscovery of a reflector
The first successful planetary rover arrived in November 1970 and traveled more than ten kilometers. Decades later orbital images help…
An explanation exists#0161
Luna 16: a hundred grams of lunar soil returned without an astronaut
In September 1970 a Soviet probe landed in lunar darkness, collected a sample and sent it to Earth: the first successful fully robotic…
An explanation exists#0159
Luna 9: a panorama intercepted by an observatory on Earth
The first soft landing produced surface photographs; independent reception in Britain made it a story of radio tracking and newspaper …
An explanation exists#0127
Luna 3: how the first photograph of the far side appeared
Grainy pictures from October 1959 revealed an unseen hemisphere, traveling from film inside a spacecraft to retouched newspaper prints.
An explanation exists#0125
Luna 2: the impact that completed the first journey to another world
In September 1959 a Soviet probe's radio signal ended at the Moon: a planned collision rather than a mysterious disappearance.
An explanation exists#0123