Moon by the Soviet Union's Luna 2, an unmanned spacecraft. The United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned lunar missions to date, beginning with the first manned orbital mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned landings between 1969 and 1972, with the first being Apollo 11. These missions returned lunar rocks which have been used to develop a geological understanding of the Moon's origin, internal structure, and the Moon's later history. Since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by unmanned spacecraft. Both the Moon's natural prominence in the earthly sky and
Astronaut: The Last Push Astronaut: The Last Push Astronaut: The Last Push (also known as The Last Push) is a 2012 American science fiction film directed by Eric Hayden in his feature directorial debut. When a catastrophic accident cuts the first manned mission to Jupiter's moons short, Michael Forrest, the sole remaining astronaut, must endure the three year return trip alone. The film opens with a montage of footage which include greetings from Earth and an interview of the sponsor of the mission. Astronauts Nathan Miller and Michael Forrest are onboard Life One, a spacecraft built by Moffit Industries. They are supposed to be