The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished landing the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. First conceived during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a three-man spacecraft to follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the 1960s, which he proposed in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third US human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by the two-man Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.
Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Lunar Module (LM) on July 20, 1969, and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the Command/Service Module (CSM), and all three landed safely on Earth on July 24. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon.
Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, with the first manned flight in 1968. It achieved its goal of manned lunar landing, despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test. After the first landing, sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow-on landings with a plan for extended lunar geological and astrophysical exploration. Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these. Five of the remaining six missions achieved successful landings, but the Apollo 13 landing was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion in transit to the Moon, which destroyed the Service Module's capability to provide electrical power, crippling the CSM's propulsion and life support systems. The crew returned to Earth safely by using the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" for these functions. Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles, which were also used for an Apollo Applications Program, which consisted of Skylab, a space station that supported three manned missions in 1973-74, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint US-Soviet Union Earth-orbit mission in 1975.
Apollo set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending manned missions beyond low Earth orbit. Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while the final Apollo 17 mission marked the sixth Moon landing and the ninth manned mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program returned 842 pounds (382 kg) of lunar rocks and soil to Earth, greatly contributing to the understanding of the Moon's composition and geological history. The program laid the foundation for NASA's subsequent human spaceflight capability, and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and manned spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and computers.
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[
Launches |
Astronauts
]
Designation |
Date |
Launch
vehicle |
CSM |
LM |
Crew |
Summary |
AS-201 |
Feb 26, 1966 |
AS-201 |
CSM-009 |
None |
None |
First flight of Saturn IB and Block I CSM; suborbital to Atlantic Ocean; qualified heat shield to orbital reentry speed. |
AS-203 |
Jul 5, 1966 |
AS-203 |
None |
None |
None |
No spacecraft; observations of liquid hydrogen fuel behavior in orbit, to support design of S-IVB restart capability. |
AS-202 |
Aug 25, 1966 |
AS-202 |
CSM-011 |
None |
None |
Suborbital flight of CSM to Pacific Ocean. |
Apollo 1 |
Feb 21, 1967 |
AS-204 |
CSM-012 |
None |
Gus Grissom
Ed White
Roger B. Chaffee |
Not flown; all crew members perished in fire on launch pad on January 27, 1967. |
Apollo 4 |
Nov 9, 1967 |
AS-501 |
CSM-017 |
LTA-10R |
None |
First test flight of Saturn V, placed a CSM in a high Earth orbit; demonstrated S-IVB restart; qualified CM heat shield to lunar reentry speed. |
Apollo 5 |
Jan 22–23, 1968 |
AS-204 |
None |
LM-1 |
None |
Earth orbital flight test of LM, launched on Saturn IB; demonstrated ascent and descent propulsion; man-rated the LM. |
Apollo 6 |
Apr 4, 1968 |
AS-502 |
CM-020
SM-014 |
LTA-2R |
None |
Unmanned, attempted demonstration of trans-lunar injection, and direct-return abort using SM engine; three engine failures, including failure of S-IVB restart. Flight controllers used SM engine to repeat Apollo 4's flight profile. Man-rated the Saturn V. |
Apollo 7 |
Oct 11–22, 1968 |
AS-205 |
CSM-101 |
None |
Wally Schirra
Walt Cunningham
Donn Eisele |
First manned Earth orbital demonstration of Block II CSM, launched on Saturn IB. First live television publicly broadcast from a manned mission. |
Apollo 8 |
Dec 21–27, 1968 |
AS-503 |
CSM-103 |
LTA-B |
Frank Borman
James Lovell
William Anders |
First manned flight to Moon; CSM made 10 lunar orbits in 20 hours. |
Apollo 9 |
Mar 3–13, 1969 |
AS-504 |
CSM-104 Gumdrop |
LM-3
Spider |
James McDivitt
David Scott
Russell Schweickart |
First manned flight of CSM and LM in Earth orbit; demonstrated Portable Life Support System to be used on the lunar surface. |
Apollo 10 |
May 18–26, 1969 |
AS-505 |
CSM-106 Charlie Brown |
LM-4
Snoopy |
Thomas Stafford
John Young
Eugene Cernan |
Dress rehearsal for first lunar landing; flew LM down to 50,000 feet (15 km) from lunar surface. |
Apollo 11 |
Jul 16–24, 1969 |
AS-506 |
CSM-107 Columbia |
LM-5 Eagle |
Neil Armstrong
Michael Collins
Buzz Aldrin |
First manned landing, in Tranquility Base, Sea of Tranquility. Surface EVA time: 2:31 hr. Samples returned: 47.51 pounds (21.55 kg). |
Apollo 12 |
Nov 14–24, 1969 |
AS-507 |
CSM-108 Yankee Clipper |
LM-6
Intrepid |
C. "Pete" Conrad
Richard Gordon
Alan Bean |
Second landing, in Ocean of Storms near Surveyor 3 . Surface EVA time: 7:45 hr. Samples returned: 75.62 pounds (34.30 kg). |
Apollo 13 |
Apr 11–17, 1970 |
AS-508 |
CSM-109 Odyssey |
LM-7
Aquarius |
James Lovell
Jack Swigert
Fred Haise |
Third landing attempt aborted near the Moon, due to SM failure. Crew used LM as "life boat" to return to Earth. |
Apollo 14 |
Jan 31 – Feb 9, 1971 |
AS-509 |
CSM-110 Kitty Hawk |
LM-8
Antares |
Alan Shepard
Stuart Roosa
Edgar Mitchell |
Third landing, in Fra Mauro formation, located northeast of the Sea of Storms. Surface EVA time: 9:21 hr. Samples returned: 94.35 pounds (42.80 kg). |
Apollo 15 |
Jul 26 – Aug 7, 1971 |
AS-510 |
CSM-112 Endeavour |
LM-10
Falcon |
David Scott
Alfred Worden
James Irwin |
First Extended LM and rover, landed in Hadley-Apennine, located near the Sea of Showers/Rains. Surface EVA time:18:33 hr. Samples returned: 169.10 pounds (76.70 kg). |
Apollo 16 |
Apr 16–27, 1972 |
AS-511 |
CSM-113 Casper |
LM-11
Orion |
John Young
T. Kenneth Mattingly
Charles Duke |
Landed in Plain of Descartes. Surface EVA time: 20:14 hr. Samples returned: 207.89 pounds (94.30 kg). |
Apollo 17 |
Dec 7–19, 1972 |
AS-512 |
CSM-114 America |
LM-12
Challenger |
Eugene Cernan
Ronald Evans
Harrison Schmitt |
Only Saturn V night launch. Landed in Taurus-Littrow. First geologist on the Moon. Final manned Moon landing. Surface EVA time: 22:02 hr. Samples returned: 243.40 pounds (110.40 kg). |
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