Apollo Missions by Time Spent on the Lunar Surface

About This Dataset

This chart shows how many hours each successful Apollo mission spent on the Moon's surface, from Apollo 11's brief 21.6-hour stay in 1969 to Apollo 17's 75-hour visit in 1972 - the last time humans walked on the Moon.

Analysis

The progression is a story of rapidly growing confidence: in just three years, lunar surface time more than tripled, from Apollo 11's cautious 21.6 hours to Apollo 17's 75 hours. The leap between Apollo 14 (33.5 hours) and Apollo 15 (66.9 hours) marks the shift to the 'J-missions' - extended stays with the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which let astronauts explore kilometers from the lander instead of meters. The final three missions each roughly doubled the surface time of the first three. Humanity's entire in-person experience of another world still totals under 300 hours - less than two weeks - a number NASA's Artemis program aims to start extending with week-long stays at the lunar south pole.

Source: NASA

Key Findings

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Apollo 17 leads in Time on Lunar Surface (Hours) with 75.

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Average Time on Lunar Surface (Hours): 49.92 · median: 50.20.

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Gap: Apollo 17 is 3.5× larger than Apollo 11.