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
The Half Moon, Putney a week-long residency, and both Tim Rose and Roy Harper did the same. On 24 July 2007, Welsh-language folk guitarist Meic Stevens performed his first London gig in over 30 years at the Half Moon. Other memorable gigs at the Half Moon include k.d. lang's first UK appearance, Kate Bush's first ever public performance and a surprise appearance by Nick Cave Hard-gigging R&B/blues-rock veterans The Hamsters played their last ever shows at The Half Moon in 2012, signing off on a 25-year career with 5 blistering shows over one weekend. The Half Moon has always been synonymous with local band