Apollo Missions

With the successes of the Gemini missions, NASA rushed forward with the Apollo series. The goal of the early Apollo missions was to orbit the moon, survey and photograph possible landing sights, and ultimately land a ship on the moon. Both countries hurried ahead at breakneck speed, and it was anyone's guess as to which one would get a man on the moon first.

Many believe the two powerhouses rushed ahead too quickly, as 1967 proved a year of tragedy for both countries. In January during a ground test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft , fire broke out in the 3-man command capsule. Astronauts White, Grissom, and Chaffe were instantly killed. As a result, the Apollo program was delayed more than a year. It looked as if the Soviets would pull ahead of the Americans.

 

from left: Grisson, White, and Chaffee

 

In April of the same year, however, cosmonaut Komarov was killed when the lines of his landing chute became twisted, and he plunged to his death. The Soviet space program was set back nearly two years.

By October 1968 several manned Apollo ships had circled the moon and taken photographs to map as much of the entire surface as they could for the future moon landings. Each crew returned safely to earth. The U.S.S.R. was now trailing in the "space race" and hurriedly sent several successful missions of their own around the moon in preparation for their lunar landing.

The United States beat the Soviets to the punch, however, when in July, 1969, Apollo 11 began its historic flight to land men on the moon's surface. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, who would remain in the orbiting spaceship to navigate while the other two men walked on the moon, made the trip uneventfully. On July 20, Armstrong was the first man to ever set foot on the moon. His first words were "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

 

from left: Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins

 

Apollo 11 take off

 

Apollo 11 capsule recovery

 

Apollo 11 capsule on top of Saturn 5 rocket

 

With a small piece of fabric from the original Wright brothers' Flyer tucked safely inside his space suit, Armstrong was joined by Aldrin, and the two spent more than two hours on the moon's surface gathering soil samples, taking pictures, setting up experiments, and erecting an American flag.

 

Aldrin descends from LEM

Apollo 11 LEM on way to moon

Apollo 17 LEM

LEM on moon

a look at the moon's rocky surface

Aldrin on moon

footprint still on moon's surface

plaque  left by Apollo 11 (attached to LEM's leg)

 

The last Apollo flight, Apollo 17, was in 1972. The crew members spent twenty-two hours on the surface of the moon and explored the terrain in land rovers. 

 

Apollo 11 astronauts in isolation visited by President Nixon

 

Two later missions were canceled as public interest dropped in lunar exploration and the space program. In all, Americans completed six separate lunar landings between 1969 and 1972. No one has returned since that time.

 

   Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo link

   Apollo links (click on a rocket below)

                                             

  

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Questions and comments: [email protected]  last revised 7/2005