Exceptions and special mentions
There is no evidence that Frank Sinatra’s request was ever granted. James Bond went to space, and a set of the moon, but not to the moon itself.
Pandora in Avatar is a moon, but not ours. Similarly, the Clangers’ ‘moon-like planet’ isn’t ours and neither are any Discworld moons.
We don’t believe that Neil from the Young Ones really went to the moon, and we suspect the Bears Who Stayed Indoors did indeed stay indoors, and not go to the moon. In Raymond Scott’s Rocket to the Moon, the travellers circle, but don’t visit, the moon.
The Cow only jumped over it, and Michael Collins etc orbited, but didn’t touch down. Comic books have been omitted because fitting the entire Marvel universe would have caused chaos, but special mentions go to Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Cerebus the Aardvark, Bananaman, Calvin and Hobbes and Moony.
Nellie Armstrong was discounted as she was only the first person on the moon in a parallel universe. Consider any implied moon visits in The Sentinel covered by the ‘et al.’ of the 2001: A Space Odyssey entry. Button Moon is a button, not the moon. The Truman Show’s production team operated from a moon, but that was just part of an elaborate set designed to fool Truman – it didn’t fool us.
The moon in The Mighty Boosh had a face, but we don’t think anyone visited it. We suspect Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s visit was a fly-by, rather than a landing, though please get in touch if you can prove otherwise. Gru stole the moon, but only Vector actually ended up on it. Selene tended to drive the moon, but using it as a vehicle isn’t really the same as visiting.
Major Tom floated in his tin can far above the moon, but doesn’t touch down that we know of, and Pink Floyd didn’t actually go to the dark side of the moon.
Thank you!
This list was curated by our awesome followers on Twitter and Facebook. We are humbled by your detailed and obscure pop culture knowledge.
Unconfirmed sightings
We have heard rumour of lots of visits that we couldn’t confirm beyond doubt. If you can provide solid evidence of any of the following individuals having visited the moon, get in touch at @Ri_Science.
John Cabal, Torchy the Battery Boy, Sailor Moon, Aquila, Pinky & the Brain, Timmy Turner, Maggot Moon, Tarzan, Curious George, The Fantastic Four, Donald Duck, Super Ted, Charlie Bear, Blue Cow, Duck Dodgers, The Young Wizards, the Grey Knights, Mickey Mouse, Mr Benn, Alice Kramden, Master of the Moon, Reverend Smallwood, Harold and his Purple Crayon, Avvaiya Patti, Buck Rogers.
Who have we missed?
Who have we missed?Who else has walked on the moon? Show conclusive evidence of any visits we’ve missed or got wrong, and if there are enough we’ll include them in an updated version of this graphic in 2016. Let us know on twitter at @Ri_Science.
The list
True Stories | Lucian of Samosata
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter | Princess Kaguya
Divine Comedy | Dante
Pan Twardowski
Orlando Furioso | Astolfo
Comical History... | Cyrano de Bergerac
Aiken Drum The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall | Hans Pfaall
From the Earth to the Moon | Impey Barbicane et al.
Le voyage dans la lune | Professor Barfenfouillis et al.
Little Peter's Journey to the Moon | Peter et al.
The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century | Matěj Brouček
Roverandom | Rover
Doctor Dolittle in the moon | Doctor Dolittle
Frau im Mond | Friede et al.
Looney Tunes | Bugs Bunny
Destination Moon | Tintin et al.
Destination Moon | Charles Cargraves et al.
Radar Men from the Moon | Commando Cody
Project Moonbase | Colonel Briteis et al.
Journey into space | Andrew ‘Jet’ Morgan et al.
Kings of Space | Timothy Clinton et al.
U.N.E.X.A. Series | Chris Godfrey et al.
A Fall of Moondust | Pat Harris et al.
The Mouse on the Moon | Professor Kokintz et al.
Fireball Xl5 | Steve Zodiac et al.
Space Patrol | Berridge et al.
The Jetsons | George Jetson et al.
Distance to the Moon | Vhd Vhd et al.
Everyone's Gone To The Moon | Everyone
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Loonies et al.
Dunno on the Moon | Dunno
Thunderbirds | Jeff Tracy
The Time Tunnel | Douglas Phillips et al.
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons | Cpt Scarlet
Barbar's moon trip | Barbar
Countdown | Lee
Moon Zero Two | JJ Hubbard et al.
Apollo 11 | Neil Armstrong
Apollo 11 | Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 12 | Pete Conrad
Apollo 12 | Alan Bean
Apollo 14 | Alan Shepard
Apollo 14 | Edgar Mitchell
Apollo 15 | David Scott
Apollo 15 | James Irwin
Apollo 16 | John W Young
Apollo 16 | Charles Duke
Apollo 16 | Harrison Schmitt
Apollo 17 | Eugene Cernan
Meg on the Moon | Meg and Mog
Morgan the Moon | William McGonagle Morgan
The Goodies | Bill Oddie et al.
Six Million Dollar Man | Steve Austin
Moonbase 3 | David Caulder & others
UFO | Edward Straker et al.
Darv et al. | Earthsearch
Mooncat | Get Up and Go
Ted Striker et al. | Airplane 2: The Sequel
Danger Mouse et al. | Danger Mouse
Aurora Williams et al. | This Place has no Atmosphere
R. Daneel Olivaw et al. | Foundation and Earth
Queen Lara et al. | Amazon Women on the Moon
Beverly Crusher et al. | Star Trek: The Next Generation
Nathan Spring et al. | Star Cops
Jason Grant et al. | Moontrap
Wallace and Gromit | A Grand Day Out
Ms Frizzle et al. | The Magic School Bus
Humpty Dumpty | Humpty Dumpty Went to the Moon
Itchy and Scratchy | Flay Me To The Moon
A boy | Dreamworks introduction
Dalziel and Pascoe | One Small Step
Space: 1999 | John Koenig et al.
Salvage 1 | Harry Broderick et al.
Cadwgan: Y Llygoden O'r Lleuad | Cadwgan
Superman II | General Zod et al.
Mr Swackhammer | Spacejam
Sam and Max | Sam & Max Freelance Police
The NSDF et al. | Battlezone
Dr Evil | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Bender et al. | Futurama
Robbie the Reindeer | Hooves of Fire
Moonbear | Mooncake
William Hawk Hawkins et al. | Space Cowboys
Kipper | Kipper the Dog
Titus et al. | Feed
John Crichton et al. | Farscape
Todd Ingram | Scott Pilgim vs The World
Stephanie et al. | Lazytown
Willzyx & Tom Cruise | South Park
Toupie et Binou | Toupie et Binou
Baby Bear | Whatever Next!
Commander Shepard | Mass Effect
Dr Manhattan | Watchmen
John Hancock | Hancock
Barney the Dinosaur | Barney & Friends
Q Pootle 5 | Q Pootle 5
Sam Bell | Moon
A boy | How to Catch a Star
Vector | Despicable Me
Mater | Moon Mater
Peppa Pig | Peppa Pig
Mordecai et al. | Regular Show
Bambino et al. | La Luna
Spongebob SquarePants | Spongebob SquarePants
Tom Mason | Falling skies
Wheatley et al. | Portal 2
Max the Dog et al. | Max Goes to the Moon
The Nazis | Iron Sky
Beans monster | Beans
Sheila et al. | The First Hippo on the Moon
Man on the Moon | John Lewis Christmas Advert