There have been more than 140 lunar missions since the 1950s, including historic landings, uncontrolled crashes and vast orbits around this celestial body.

But after the end of the political "space race" between the United States and the USSR (now Russia), expeditions to this satellite — less than a third of the Earth's width — dwindled.

It's only recently that interest has surged again, with India on course to land on the lunar south pole as soon as tomorrow and Russia declaring the race has begun for the Moon's resources after its failed landing attempt on Sunday.

Like the US and China, they've been spurred on by NASA's discovery of water molecules on the Moon which could help foster a human colony.

So here's what we know about past Moon landings, and what future missions will focus on. 

Which countries have landed on the Moon?

Only four countries have successfully landed on the Moon using a lander or "impactor": the United States, Russia (formerly USSR), China and India.

Put simply, a lander is a spacecraft that's designed to land on the surface of a celestial body, while an impactor is destroyed upon landing.

In total, there's been 27 successful landings using these methods, including six missions that carried humans. 

These figures exclude flyby and orbit missions, which involve flying close to the moon or circling it for remote observations.

The European Space Agency deliberately crashed its SMART-1 orbiter into the Moon after it had completed its mission in September 2006.

Japan, Luxembourg, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates have also made contact with the surface by crashing their spacecrafts, though unintentionally.

Which spacecraft was the first to land?

In September 1959, the USSR's unmanned Luna 2 spacecraft was the first man-made object to successfully land on the Moon.

Ten years later, in July 1969, America's Apollo 11 was the first spacecraft to carry humans to the surface.

The "space race" between the two Cold War rivals resulted in nearly all of their Moon landings taking place in the 60s and 70s.

Humanity then took a 37-year break from Moon landings, before China achieved its first touchdown in 2013.

The country went on to become the first to land on the "far" side of the Moon in 2019, which is the side facing away from Earth.

Nowadays, the most mysterious parts of the Moon are actually at its poles, where the sun always hovers near the horizon.

Hundreds of craters at the north and south poles never receive direct sunlight and are thought to contain water ice that could support a future Moon settlement.

So how many people have walked on the Moon?

Twelve people have touched down and they were all American.

Neil Armstrong was the first person to take that "giant leap for mankind" in 1969, and Eugene Cernan was the last one to step foot in 1972.

Only four of the Moon-walkers are still alive today:

• Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) 
• Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1930–)
• Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930–1999)
• Alan Bean (1932–2018)
• Alan Shepard Jr (1923–1998)
• Edgar Mitchell (1930–2016)
• David Scott (1932–)
• James Irwin (1930–1991)
• John Young (1920–2018)
• Charles Duke (1935–)
• Eugene Cernan (1934–2017)
• Harrison Schmitt (1935–)

All crewed moon landings took place as part of America's Apollo program and across six space missions (Apollo 11 to 12, 14 to 17). 

Humans have not been back since, and the Moon remains the only celestial body besides Earth that we've ever visited in person.

Why haven't we been back to the Moon?