The Apollo Program National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Apollo Program National Aeronautics and Space Admi nistration
The Apollo program, begun in 196 1 as a response to the challenge of The Apollo program was the cent ral element of a much broader space Soviet space activities, rapidl y became the backbone of the American space initiative that included th e Mercury, Ranger, Surveyor, Gemini, Lunar Fast Facts program. Its origin al objective was to land an A merican on the Moon and Orbiter, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz programs. All these were either necessary return safely to Earth before the end of the decade. At the time President preparations for the Apollo program or later effOits using Apoll o spacecraft Namesake: Apollo-Greek god of prophecy, Kennedy proposed the Apollo program. the United States had achi eved only and launch vehicles. The Earth -orbiting element s of the "broader" Apollo sunlight, poetry, and music one human space flight-Alan Shepard's 15- minute suborbital Mercury program we re ext remely productive. Earth terrain photography from the Lunar M ission: Three circumlunars (w ithout landings); Redstone mission. Even the most optim isti c space enthu siasts had doubts Gemini mi ss ion, for example, eventuall y led to Landsat. Radar altimetry six landings that the President's goal could be met. An entire new space technology had fro m Sky lab mapped the gravitationall y determined shape of the sea sLllface Sam ples Returned: 385 kilograms of rock and soil ; soi l to be developed-a technology that included orbital rendezvous:"xtravehicular from space. thus producing indirectly the first topographi ca l view of the included implanted hydrogen and helium act ivities. rocket-powered landings. and deep space navigation. among ocean floor. The Apollo-Soyuz mission demonstrated satellite-to-satellite atoms fro m the Sun. others. Furthermore, in 196 1. knowledge about the lunar surface was of the tracking, a va lu able technique used to map Earth's grav it y field. most general nature. based com pl etely on Earth-based astronomical studies Between 196 1 and 1972. the Apollo program cost $25 billion. The program and radar. No features sma ll er than a kilometer cou ld be resolved, and one is generally agreed to have been one of the most signitica nt technol og ica l school of thought beli eved the maria to be deep pits filled with electrostatically achi evement s in hum an hi story. a unifyi ng experience for the human race. Significant Dates supported dust into which astronauts mi ght si nk . and the beginning of hum anity's expansion into the universe. The Apollo program was neverth eless approved. and development of the 1961 - President John F. Kennedy proposed that the U.S. land a human on mighty Saturn V launch vehicl e, spacecraft, and a deep space tracking network th e Moon and return him befo re th e e nd of the decade began. The 10 missions of the Gemini program were invaluable in learn in g I965-First piloted Gemini mi ssion; demonstrated two-member spacecraft, how humans could operate in space. The robotic Ranger probes included propulsion. and radar three succe..o;;sful hard-landing missions, which produced the first hi gh resolution I968-First human Apollo mi ssion; Earth orbit, II days views of the lunar surface. A spectacu lar series of five Lunar Orbiter 1968-First human fli ght to Moon, Apollo 8; 10 orbit s, no landing reconnaissance missions gave us photograph s of alm ost the entire Moon: About the Images these photos helped to determine Apollo landing sites. In 1966 and 1967, I969-First human landing on Moon, Apollo I I soft-landin g Surveyor spacecraft produced detail ed knowledge of the lunar 197 I-First human surface vehicle on Moon. Apollo 15 su rface. includi ng phy sical properties and chemi ca l composit ion. Between 1969 and 1972 NASA astronauts successfully landed on the I972-Last Apollo mission to Moon, Apollo 17 In 1967 the Apoll o program suffered a major setback. The Apollo 204 Moon six times, more than fulfilling the promise made by President John 1975-Apoll o- Soyuz Test Project, joint Soviet/American mission spacecraft caught tire during a ground test, killing astronauts Gus Grissom, F. Kennedy in 1961 . ( I) In one of th e important symboli c acts of each of Ed White. and Roger Chaffee. After finding the cause of this tragedy, these miss ions, Astronaut David R. Scott salutes the United States flag improvements to the spacecraft resulted and rigid safety procedures were during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the References developed. By 1968. the first Earth-orbital mission. Apoll o 7, was flown, Hadley-Apennine landing site. The Lunar Module "Falcon" is partially I. NASA Apollo History: fo ll owed within months by the first lunar orbit in g mission, Apoll o 8. The visible on the right. Hadley Delta in the background rises approximately htTp://spacejlighl.nasa.gov/hislor),/apollo Apo ll o 9 mission tested the Lunar Module in Eart h orbit. and Apollo 10 4,000 meters (about 13. 124 feet) above the plain. The base of the mountain 2. NASA Apollo II 30th Anniversary: tested the Lunar Module in lunar orbit. paving the way for the first landing is approximately 5 kilometers (about 3 statute miles) away. This photograph in July 1969. was taken by Astronaut James B. Irwin. (2) Astronaut Eugene A. Cern an htTp://www.hq.llasa.gov/office/pao/History/apll allll/illl rodliClioll. h till The six Apo llo lun ar landings, during which 12 astronauts lived, in pairs, makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the early part 3. Apollo Over Ihe MoolI: A VielV from Orbil, NASA SP-362, on the Moon for as long as 3 days, were extraordinarily productive. Astronauts of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular acti vity (EVA-I) at the Taurus-Littrow NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. 1978. camed out extensive remote-sensing surveys from lunar orbit that in themselves landing site. The mountain in the right background is the East end of South 4. Apollo £