In Pics | Successful Moon landings

As India eyes becoming the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of the Moon, ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) is all set to descend on the lunar surface on Wednesday evening. In light of the same, here is a look at the countries which have had successful Moon landings.

The erstwhile Soviet Union achieved a successful landing of the first man-made object on the Moon when the unmanned Luna-2 spacecraft completed its mission. Luna-2, originally named Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket, became the first spacecraft to make contact with another celestial body when it impacted the Moon on September 12, 1959.

A decade later, on July 20, 1969, USA's Apollo 11 made the second successful landing on Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon's surface charting a remarkable episode in history. The mission, the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program, lasted 8 days, 3 hours and 18 minutes. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Chang'e 3's successful mission made China the third country to achieve the feat of landing on the Moon. It was launched on December 1, 2013 and made the landing on December 14, 2013. It was part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.