MOON LANDINGS

The full scope of the space race has only come to light in recent years as historians have been allowed access to Russian archives.

More than 50 spacecraft from five countries have touched down on the silvery planet. Most would have crashed and been destroyed at speeds above 100 mph. Some are estimated to have hit at more than 3,000 mph.  Just 20 craft landed at slower speeds ... and intact.

Each mission is represented with a location, where known and particulars about the mission. 

Drag out a folder to compare the size of the landed craft and the condition. 

SPACE FLIGHTS TARGETING THE MOON

Many of these missions were never publicly acknowledged. Details emerged two years ago in Dr. Philip Stooke’s “International Atlas of Lunar Exploration.”  In a recent e-mail Dr. Stooke writes that there is more to come from the Russian archives.

WOMEN IN SPACE

This timeline shows the men and women who have traveled to outer space up to 2000 when I published this. Identifying the gender of an astronaut even after looking at names and mugshot could be tricky. I found specifics on microfiche "Biographical and Statistical Data" prepared by the Congressional Research Service in addition to the Encyclopedia Astronautica.