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
Stowaway to the Moon (film) Avril watch the full moon from Avril's property. E.J. remembers Lawrence's words: "Kid, you got us off the Moon. Without you we'd be part of those rocks and rilles down there forever and ever! Now we're going home, and we've got you to thank for that!" Astronaut Pete Conrad played himself as TV expert. Stowaway to the Moon (film) Stowaway to the Moon is a 1975 television film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Lloyd Bridges among others. The plot centers around a preteen boy who stows away on an Apollo mission to the moon. The film also features