Two lists, checked by hand
The missions section counts every launch aimed at Mars and at the Moon, whatever the country. Mars has 48 launches carrying 53 missions, and the Moon has 128 launches carrying 141. The numbers differ because one rocket sometimes carries several spacecraft. Each mission has an outcome, a reason for it and its sources, because no single public catalogue gets the answer right on its own.
What counts as a success
We grade each mission against its own goal. Of the 53 Mars missions, 22 succeeded, 8 partly did and 22 failed, with 1 still under way. The Moon list reads 71 successes, 16 partial and 54 failures. A partial result means at least one stated objective was met, even if the mission missed its main target. The full rules are under how we count, and the Mars success rate and Moon success rate pages show how the odds changed by decade.
What stands out
Landing is the hard part. The Moon list has 28 soft landings, and 12 people have walked there, all on 6 Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972. Mars is a different story: of the 22 failures, 11 never got past the neighborhood of Earth, lost at launch or stranded in Earth orbit, and only 3 were lost on landing. See the missions that failed. For a first read, try every Moon landing, the Mars rovers or the countries that reached Mars. The counts run through October 19, 2026, and every page shows that date.
The Moon isn't finished
Artemis II flew four astronauts around the Moon in April 2026 and splashed down on April 10, but it didn't land, so 12 remains the number of people who have walked on its surface. The page on moonwalkers and the Apollo numbers keep that count, and it'll change only when a crewed landing happens.
Mars
How many missions have gone to Mars?48 launches, 53 missions, and how they came out.
Every Mars missionThe full list, with what happened to each.
Mars mission success rateBy decade, by type, and what changed.
Countries that have reached MarsWho has had a success, and who hasn't yet.
Every Mars roverEight rovers, from Sojourner to Perseverance.
Mars missions that failedAll 22, and where each one was lost.The Moon
How many missions have gone to the Moon?128 launches, 141 missions.
Every Moon landingAll 28 soft landings, and the ones that crashed.
Countries that have landed on the MoonFive programs, plus private landers.
How many people have walked on the Moon?12, in six landings.
Apollo by the numbersCrews, moonwalk hours and Moon rock.
Moon mission success rateBy decade and by program.
Moon missions that failedAll 54, and where each one was lost.How we count
We count one mission for each separately managed flight project that left the ground aimed at the Moon or Mars. A mission that was only planned doesn't count. The first number on each page is launches. The second is missions, because one launch can carry more than one. Mars Express and Beagle 2 rode the same rocket, and so did Mars 2020 and the Ingenuity helicopter.
Each mission is graded against its own main goals. Success means all of them were met. Partial means at least one stated goal was met, such as returning the science it was built for, even though another goal was lost. Failure means none were, which includes losing the craft at launch or on the way. A discovery made by accident doesn't rescue a failed mission. A mission still under way has no grade until its main goals are done.
The ledger behind these pages was built twice, from separate searches, and the two lists were compared line by line. Where they disagreed on a grade, the rule above settled it and the reason is written in the data. Some items are left out on purpose: 4 early Soviet launches that sources don't agree happened, 2 cubesats whose lunar goals are unclear, and a probe that was only sent to the Moon years after it launched.
Questions people ask
How many missions have gone to Mars?
48 launches have been aimed at Mars, carrying 53 separate missions, from 1960 to 2025. 22 succeeded, 8 partly succeeded and 22 failed. One more is still on its way.
How many missions have gone to the Moon?
128 launches have been aimed at the Moon, carrying 141 separate missions, from 1958 to 2026. 71 succeeded, 16 partly succeeded and 54 failed.
Which countries have landed on the Moon?
Five national programs have landed on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan. Intuitive Machines and Firefly, two US companies, have also landed craft for NASA.
How often do Mars missions fail?
Of the 52 Mars missions with a final result, 22 failed (42%) and 22 fully succeeded (42%). Failures were far more common in the 1960s and 1970s than they are now.