Which countries publicly congratulated the US after Apollo moon landings in 1969-1972?

1. Global chorus: most diplomacies sent formal congratulations

Contemporary archival summaries and institutional histories make a consistent claim: diplomatic channels delivered congratulations from the world’s states to the United States after Apollo 11 and subsequent landings, with the State Department “accepting the best wishes and congratulations of foreign governments” and the Smithsonian noting “official congratulations poured in to the U.S. president from other heads of state” — language that frames the response as essentially universal among countries in normal diplomatic relations with Washington ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Notable named senders in the public record

While many sources summarize a near‑universal diplomatic reaction, several specific senders are singled out in primary records: the Pope hailed the astronauts and was recorded as praising them as “conquerors of the moon,” and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson offered “profound admiration” according to a State Department media‑reaction summary ^[3]. Other contemporary anecdotes in the State Department digest — from church bells in Latin American cities to domestic media gratitude in Pakistan — illustrate both official and public expressions of celebration tied to national leaderships and institutions ^[3].

3. The Cold War context shaped who congratulated and how

The political backdrop mattered: the Apollo program was a Cold War achievement, and while “all nations having regular diplomatic relations” reportedly sent best wishes, responses were not uniformly effusive; the Soviet bloc’s public stance emphasized different priorities, with Soviet officials at times calling crewed landings “dangerous and unnecessary” even as their media and diplomats registered the event’s global significance ^{[1] [4]}. That duality — formal diplomatic courtesy versus ideological framing — is visible in the archival and museum accounts ^{[1] [4]}.

4. What the sources do — and do not — provide

The available sources compiled here are explicit about breadth but not exhaustive in naming every country: National Archives and the Smithsonian state that nations with regular diplomatic ties sent congratulations, and the State Department’s compiled media reactions sample notable responses and public sentiment ^{[2] [1] [3]}. None of the supplied documents gives a definitive, line‑by‑line list of every government that issued a congratulatory message for each Apollo landing between 1969 and 1972, so any claim of a complete roster would exceed what these sources document ^{[2] [1] [3]}.

5. Reading between the lines: motives and media

The broad international congratulation pattern reflected multiple motives recorded in government files and museum narratives: genuine admiration for a scientific feat, global media fascination that left streets empty as people watched, and diplomatic courtesy that reinforced alliances and soft power during the Cold War ^{[1] [3]}. Institutional reports emphasize that radio and TV stations prepared audiences worldwide and newspapers devoted pages to the mission, which both amplified public signs of congratulation and provided governments a visible platform for issuing formal messages ^{[3] [1]}.

6. Bottom line and caveat

Bottom line: archival and museum sources indicate that virtually every country maintaining normal diplomatic relations with the United States issued some form of public congratulation after Apollo 11 and subsequent crewed landings through 1972, with prominent named senders including the Vatican and the British prime minister and with more ambivalent or ideologically framed responses from the Soviet side; however, the sources reviewed do not contain a complete, itemized list of every congratulating country, so a definitive country‑by‑country enumeration cannot be produced from these documents alone ^{[2] [1] [3]}.