How Many Humans Have Walked on the Moon? Names, Missions, and Dates (2025 Update)

Aug, 16 2025

TL;DR

Answer: 12 people. All were NASA astronauts from the Apollo program (1969-1972).
Six missions landed: Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17. Two moonwalkers per mission.
Total lunar surface EVAs (moonwalks): 14. Last footsteps: December 14, 1972.
No woman and no non‑American has walked on the Moon yet as of August 2025. Artemis aims to change that.
Quick rule of thumb: 6 landings × 2 walkers each = 12. Easy sanity check when you see conflicting claims.

The count, the names, the missions (1969-1972)

If you only take one thing from this page, let it be this: twelve. That’s fewer people than a minibus seats. Every one of them walked the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972, across six Apollo landings. No other nation has put humans on the lunar surface yet, and no missions after Apollo have done it as of today.

Here’s the definitive, mission-by-mission list. Use it as your anchor when you bump into social posts or videos that fudge the number.

Apollo 11 (July 20, 1969): Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 12 (November 19-20, 1969): Charles “Pete” Conrad, Alan Bean
Apollo 14 (February 5-6, 1971): Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell
Apollo 15 (July 31-August 2, 1971): David Scott, James Irwin
Apollo 16 (April 21-23, 1972): John Young, Charles Duke
Apollo 17 (December 11-13, 1972): Eugene Cernan, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt

A few clean, useful details to keep in your back pocket:

Two astronauts per landing walked on the surface; a third astronaut stayed in lunar orbit in the Command Module. For example, Michael Collins orbited during Apollo 11, but he didn’t set foot on the surface.
Number of surface EVAs per mission: Apollo 11 (1), 12 (2), 14 (2), 15 (3), 16 (3), 17 (3) → total of 14 moonwalks.
Only one professional geologist has walked on the Moon: Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17.
The last person on the Moon (so far) was Eugene Cernan. He climbed the ladder on December 14, 1972, after writing his daughter’s initials in the dust.

Who says so? NASA’s mission transcripts, surface activity timelines, and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (assembled from the original audio, video, and crew logs) are the gold standard. If you’ve ever been unsure whether the number is 10, 12, or 13, this is where the 12 is nailed down.

One more sanity check: the landing sequence missed 1970 entirely. Apollo 13 never landed (oxygen tank explosion), which is why you’ll see a gap after 1969 and before 1971 in the list above.

Memory tip: Break the twelve into three tidy pairs by era of capability.

Pre-“car” era (no rover): Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 → 1+2+2 EVAs
Lunar rover era: Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17 → 3 EVAs each with the electric Lunar Roving Vehicle

That split helps you remember not just who walked, but how they moved. Before the rover, exploration range was limited to footpaths around the Lunar Module. With the rover, crews pushed kilometers out to sample sites, craters, and slopes scientists had circled on maps for years.

Why did lunar walking end after 1972? The short answer is budget and priorities. After six successful landings, political momentum shifted. Launch vehicles were retired, hardware lines closed, and NASA moved to the Space Shuttle program. No conspiracy, just the very human tug-of-war between ambition and resources.

If you need a quick name mnemonic, try this: two A’s on 11 (Armstrong, Aldrin), two on 14 (Shepard, Mitchell), and one on 17 (Cernan) are household names; fill the rest with the “consonants club”: Conrad, Bean, Scott, Irwin, Young, Duke, Schmitt. Not perfect, but it gets you most of the way there when your mind goes blank mid-quiz.

For conversations, remember the exact phrasing people search for: how many humans have walked on the moon. Say “twelve” with confidence, then offer the mission list above for proof.

Fast facts, memory aids, and a practical cheat sheet

When you’re in a hurry, this is the compact kit. Use it to check claims, teach kids, or settle a pub debate.

First, the fast facts set you can rattle off without notes:

Total moonwalkers: 12
Total landing missions: 6 (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17)
Total surface EVAs: 14
First footsteps: July 20, 1969 (Armstrong)
Latest footsteps: December 14, 1972 (Cernan)
Only geologist on the Moon: Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17)
Nation represented: United States (NASA) only

Cheat sheet: names grouped by mission, with quick identifiers.

Apollo 11 - Armstrong (first step, commander), Aldrin (Lunar Module Pilot), Collins (orbited only)
Apollo 12 - Conrad (commander, humorist), Bean (artist later in life), Gordon (orbited)
Apollo 14 - Shepard (golf shots on the Moon), Mitchell (ESP curiosity back on Earth), Roosa (orbited)
Apollo 15 - Scott (hammer-feather drop demonstration), Irwin (first to drive LRV), Worden (orbited)
Apollo 16 - Young (drove LRV, later flew Shuttle), Duke (youngest Moonwalker), Mattingly (orbited)
Apollo 17 - Cernan (last footsteps), Schmitt (geologist, found orange soil), Evans (orbited)

How to fact-check a claim in under 30 seconds:

Count the missions. If someone mentions Apollo 13 on the surface, that’s your red flag. Only 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 landed.
Look for the orbit-vs-walk mix-up. A classic error is adding Collins or Worden to the walker list. They orbited; they didn’t descend.
Scan for non-Apollo names. No cosmonauts, no private astronauts, no post-1972 landings yet.

Teaching kids? Use the “pairs game.” Print the six mission patches on one column and the twelve names in another; ask them to draw lines connecting two names to each patch. They learn the number “12” the fun way, and they see how two people always travel together on the surface.

Memory curves love structure, so here’s a tidy breakdown by year to lock it in:

1969: 4 walkers (Apollo 11, 12)
1970: 0 walkers (Apollo 13 did not land)
1971: 4 walkers (Apollo 14, 15)
1972: 4 walkers (Apollo 16, 17)

Want to go a layer deeper? Use these quick context points when someone asks why only a dozen:

Risk stayed high even as confidence grew. Apollo 12’s pinpoint landing proved precision; Apollo 13’s accident reminded everyone what was at stake.
Science return scaled up. By the rover missions, crews bagged hundreds of kilograms of samples and deployed seismometers, heat flow probes, and a range of geophysics gear.
Politics matter. Apollo was a sprint powered by a Cold War deadline. Once the Lunar goal was met several times, funding and public attention shifted.

Common mix-ups to avoid:

“China put humans on the Moon.” Not yet. China has landed multiple robotic Chang’e craft and brought back samples, which is impressive, but no crewed landing as of August 2025.
“Twenty-four walked.” Close, but off by half. Twenty-four flew to the Moon during Apollo; twelve of those walked, twelve only orbited.
“The Moon landings ended because of technical limits.” The technology worked; the limits were political and financial.

Citations you can quote out loud (no need for links when you’re chatting): NASA mission summaries and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (compiled by Eric Jones and colleagues) are the primary sources pulled straight from audio, transcripts, and crew debriefs. NASA’s Office of the Chief Historian keeps the program-level record straight. If you remember those names, you’ll never get stuck proving the “12.”

If you’re the designated myth-buster in your group, here’s a simple quiz mnemonic that doubles as a party trick: “11-12 (4) then pause, 14-15 (4), 16-17 (4).” Say it like a drumbeat. That cadence gives you the full dozen without scrambling the order.

And if you crave one more curiosity to make the stat sticky: the only person whose job on Earth was to study rocks before stepping onto the Moon was Schmitt, and he’s the one who found orange volcanic glass at Taurus-Littrow. That find still pops up in lunar science papers today.

What’s next for Moonwalkers and your top follow-up questions

As of August 2025, the next crewed landing mission is planned under NASA’s Artemis program, with international and commercial partners. Schedules move-spaceflight is exacting-but the intent is clear: the first woman and the first person of color will walk on the Moon on an Artemis mission no earlier than the later 2020s. You’ll see new suits, new landers, and a different kind of surface science: instruments that can run for months, possibly even years, in the harsh polar environment.

What changes with Artemis compared to Apollo?

Destination: The south polar region, not equatorial sites. That’s where water ice likely hides in permanently shadowed craters-a resource for future fuel and life support.
Architecture: Rather than a one-off sprint, Artemis builds a repeatable system-Space Launch System, Orion, commercial Human Landing Systems, and the Gateway outpost in lunar orbit.
Science focus: In-situ resource prospecting, seismology with modern sensors, and curated sample strategies aimed at early Solar System history and volatile cycles.

Mini-FAQ

How many people have walked on the Moon? Twelve.
How many people have gone to the Moon but not walked? Twelve (24 flew to lunar distance; half orbited only).
Has any woman walked on the Moon? Not yet. Artemis aims to change that.
Has any non-American walked on the Moon? Not yet; all twelve were American NASA astronauts.
Who was first? Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11). Who was second? Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11). Who was last? Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17).
Which mission didn’t land? Apollo 13. The crew returned safely after an onboard explosion.
How many total moonwalks? Fourteen surface EVAs across six landings.
Did any Apollo astronaut walk alone? No. Moonwalks were always done in pairs for safety and workload.
Did the Soviets ever land humans? No. They flew impressive robotic sample-return missions instead.
What’s the source for all this? NASA mission archives, surface timelines, and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal-primary documents, not hearsay.

Next steps if you need to use this info for school, media, or teaching:

Start with the core numbers: 12 walkers, 6 landings, 14 surface EVAs. Put those three in your opening slide or first paragraph.
Anchor each number with a story: Apollo 11’s first step, Apollo 15’s rover era, Apollo 17’s geologist. Stories make stats stick.
Prevent the classic mistake: include an “orbited vs walked” line for each mission, so Collins/Worden/Evans aren’t miscounted.
Keep dates simple: month and year are enough for most contexts. Save day-level precision for timelines and exhibits.
Quote primary sources out loud: “NASA mission transcripts and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal confirm 12 walkers.” That phrasing signals credibility.

Troubleshooting different scenarios

Kid asks, “Why did we stop?” Say, “Because space costs money, and once we proved we could do it six times, the budget moved to other projects.” If they’re curious, add, “We’re going back with Artemis to the south pole where there’s ice.”
Friend insists the number is 14 or 10. Ask them to list the missions that landed. When they stumble onto Apollo 13 or forget Apollo 12, walk them through the six confirmed landings above. Then multiply by two.
Social post claims another country walked recently. Check the year. If it’s post-1972 and not Artemis, it’s a robotic mission, not crewed.
Reporter on deadline needs a quote. Offer: “Twelve humans walked on the Moon, all during Apollo from 1969 to 1972; we haven’t added to that list yet-but Artemis is designed to.”
Trivia night asks for the last Moonwalker. Say “Eugene Cernan, December 1972,” and enjoy the bonus point.

If you want a simple mental model for remembering this forever, use the 6×2 rule, then place two bookends: Armstrong opens the era in July 1969, Cernan closes it in December 1972. Everything else slides neatly between those two names. That’s it. That’s the whole trick.

And if you’re hungry for the emotional weight behind the number: twelve is small by design. Apollo was a bold, finite sprint. Artemis aims to turn a sprint into a steady walk-one that more people, from more places, can join. When that next pair steps onto the polar regolith, you’ll feel the number twelve finally budge.