Apollo astronaut in full spacesuit, 1969.

NASA sent seven manned misions to land on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, although the third, Apollo 13, had to return to Earth without landing after an explosion on board. The first, Apollo 11, landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin on the lunar surface in July 1969. Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans to walk on the Moon in December 1972. All the activities which had to be carried out by the astronauts in space and on the Moon were practised extensively on the ground before the flight.