Yutu-2 in the context of "Lunokhod 1"

The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made a deliberate impact on the surface of the Moon on 14 September, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of lunar exploration had been observations from Earth. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the first leap in the quality of lunar observations. Galileo Galilei is generally credited as the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes, having made his own telescope in 1609. The mountains and craters on the lunar surface were among his first observations.

Human exploration of the Moon since Luna 2 has consisted of both crewed and uncrewed missions. NASA's Apollo program has been the only program to successfully land humans on the Moon, which it did six times on the near side in the late 20th century. The first human landing took place in 1969, when the Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong touched down on the surface in the region of Mare Tranquillitatis, leaving scientific instruments upon the mission's completion and returning lunar samples to Earth. All lunar missions had taken place on the lunar near side until the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon was made by the CNSA robotic spacecraft Chang'e 4 in early 2019, which successfully deployed the Yutu-2 robotic lunar rover. On 25 June 2024, CNSA's Chang'e 6 conducted the first lunar sample return from the far side of the Moon.

Chang'e 4 (/tʃɑːŋˈə/; Chinese: 嫦娥四号; pinyin: Cháng'é Sìhào; lit. 'Chang'e No. 4') is a robotic spacecraft mission in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program of the CNSA. It made a soft landing on the far side of the Moon, the first spacecraft to do so, on 3 January 2019.

A communication relay satellite, Queqiao, was first launched to a halo orbit near the Earth–Moon L₂ point in May 2018. The robotic lander and Yutu-2 (Chinese: 玉兔二号; pinyin: Yùtù Èrhào; lit. 'Jade Rabbit No. 2') rover were launched on 7 December 2018 and entered lunar orbit on 12 December 2018, before landing on the Moon's far side. On 15 January it was announced that seeds had sprouted in the lunar lander's biological experiment, the first plants to sprout on the Moon. The mission is the follow-up to Chang'e 3, the first Chinese landing on the Moon.