Only seven nations (or political unions) have been to or orbited the moon so far as part of a successful or semi-successful mission – and the runner-up doesn’t even exist anymore.

SRIHARIKOTA, July 22: India is ready to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the far side of the moon on Monday a week after aborting the mission due to a technical problem.

FLORIDA, March 25: India's lunar mission Chandrayaan 2, scheduled to launch next month, will carry NASA's laser instruments that allow scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon, according to the US space agency officials.