Since 1958, more than sixty space vehicles have been launched toward the Moon. Most of them have been unpiloted. This includes spacecraft that have flown past the Moon; those that have gone into orbit around the Moon, sending information back to Earth for months or years; and those that have missed their target altogether and ended up orbiting the Sun. Some Moon-bound spacecraft have crash-landed on the lunar surface or descended to a soft landing, collecting soil samples and other scientific data. The most celebrated of all lunar vehicles have been the piloted Apollo missions.