Apollo program
- For other meanings, see Apollo (disambiguation).
![Apollo Program insignia](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Apollo_program_insignia.png/200px-Apollo_program_insignia.png)
Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1975. It was devoted to the goal of (in U.S. President John F. Kennedy's famous words) "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" within the decade of the 1960s. This goal was achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.
The program continued into the early 1970s to carry out the initial hands-on scientific exploration of the Moon, with a total of six successful landings. As of 2006, there has not been any further human spaceflight beyond low earth orbit. The later Skylab program and the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project used equipment originally produced for Apollo, and are often considered to be part of the overall program.
Despite the successes, there were several major failures, one of which resulted in the deaths of three astronauts, Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, in the Apollo 1 launchpad fire. There was also an explosion on Apollo 13 which nearly resulted in the death of three more astronauts, and a release of poisonous gases during re-entry of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project spacecraft that nearly killed three more again.
The Apollo project was named after the Greek god of the sun.
Background
The Apollo Program was originally conceived late in the Eisenhower administration as a follow-up to the Mercury program, doing advanced manned earth-orbital missions. In fact, it became the third program, following Gemini. The Apollo Program was dramatically reoriented to an aggressive lunar landing goal by President Kennedy with his announcement at a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961:
- "...I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..."[1]
Another excerpt from Kennedy's Special Message to Congress:
- "I believe we should go to the moon. But I think every citizen of this country as well as the Members of the Congress should consider the matter carefully in making their judgment, to which we have given attention over many weeks and months, because it is a heavy burden, and there is no sense in agreeing or desiring that the United States take an affirmative position in outer space, unless we are prepared to do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. If we are not, we should decide today and this year.
- "This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, material and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful inter-agency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel.
- "New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further--unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space."[1]
The Apollo program was at least partly motivated by geopolitical considerations, in the context of the Cold War and the Space Race.
Choosing a mission mode
Having settled upon the Moon as a target, the Apollo mission planners were faced with the challenge of designing a set of flights that would meet Kennedy's stated goal while minimizing risk to human life, cost, and demands on technology and astronaut skill.
Four possible plans were considered.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Apollo_Direct_Ascent_Concept.jpg/225px-Apollo_Direct_Ascent_Concept.jpg)
Direct Ascent and
Earth Orbit Rendezvous - 1961 (NASA)
- Direct Ascent: This plan was to boost a spaceship directly to the Moon. The entire spacecraft would land on and return from the Moon. This would have required a far more powerful rocket than the most powerful proposed at the time, the Nova rocket.
- Earth Orbit Rendezvous: This plan, known as Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), would have required the launch of two Saturn V rockets, one containing the spaceship and one containing fuel. The spaceship would have docked in earth orbit and be fueled with enough fuel to make it to the Moon and back. Again, the entire spacecraft would have landed on the Moon.
- Lunar Surface Rendezvous: This would have required two spacecraft to be launched - the first one, being an automated vehicle carrying propellants, would land on the Moon, to be followed some time later by the manned vehicle. Propellant would be transferred from the automated vehicle to the manned vehicle before the manned vehicle could return to Earth.
- Lunar Orbit Rendezvous: This plan, which was adopted, is credited to John Houbolt and used the technique of 'Lunar Orbit Rendezvous' (LOR). The spacecraft was modular, composed of a 'Command/Service Module' (CSM) and a 'Lunar Module' (LM; originally Lunar Excursion Module (LEM)). The CSM contained the life support systems for the three-man crew's five-day round trip to the Moon and the heat shield for their reentry to Earth's atmosphere. The LM would separate from the CSM in lunar orbit and carry two astronauts for the descent to the lunar surface, then back up to the CSM.
In contrast with the other plans, the LOR plan required only a small part of the spacecraft to land on the Moon, thereby minimizing the mass to be launched from the Moon's surface for the return trip. The mass to be launched was further minimized by leaving part of the LM (that with the descent engine and landing gear) behind on the Moon.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Apollo_16_LM.jpg/220px-Apollo_16_LM.jpg)
The Lunar Module itself was composed of a descent stage and an ascent stage, the former serving as a launch platform for the latter when the lunar exploration party blasted off for lunar orbit where they would dock with the CSM prior to returning to Earth. The plan had the advantage that since the LM was to be eventually discarded, it could be made very light, so the Moon mission could be launched with a single Saturn V rocket. However, at the time that LOR was decided, some mission planners were uneasy at the large number of dockings and undockings called for by the plan.
To learn lunar landing techniques, astronauts practiced in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), a flying vehicle that simulated (by means of a special, additional jet engine) the reduced gravity that the Lunar Module would actually fly in.
Spacecraft
The Apollo spacecraft consisted of three main sections, plus two minor sections.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Apollo_CSM_lunar_orbit.jpg/220px-Apollo_CSM_lunar_orbit.jpg)
The Command Module (CM) was the part in which the astronauts spent most of their time, including launch and landing. It was the only part that returned to Earth after the mission. The Service Module (SM) housed the equipment needed by the astronauts, such as oxygen tanks, and the engine that would take the spacecraft into and out of lunar orbit. The combined Command and Service modules were called the CSM.
The Lunar Module (LM) (also known as Lunar Excursion Module, or LEM), was the part of the spacecraft that actually landed on the moon. It was comprised of two stages, one for descent, and one for ascent.
The Launch Escape Tower (LET) would carry the Command Module clear of the launch vehicle, should it explode during launch, and the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) was used to connect the spacecraft to the Launch Vehicle. In addition, on Apollos 9 - 17, it housed and protected the Lunar Module and on the ASTP flight, it housed the docking adapter.
Astronauts
The following astronauts flew Apollo missions:
From the Mercury Seven
- Walter Marty Schirra, Jr., USN – Apollo 7
- Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., USN – Apollo 14
From Astronaut Group 2
- Neil Alden Armstrong – Apollo 11
- Frank Frederick Borman II, USAF – Apollo 8
- Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr., USN – Apollo 12, Skylab 2
- James Arthur Lovell, Jr., USN – Apollo 8, Apollo 13
- James Alton McDivitt, USAF – Apollo 9
- Thomas Patten Stafford, USAF – Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
- John Watts Young, USN – Apollo 10, Apollo 16
From Astronaut Group 3
- Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, USAF – Apollo 11
- William Alison Anders, USAF – Apollo 8
- Alan LaVern Bean, USN – Apollo 12, Skylab 3
- Eugene Andrew Cernan, USN – Apollo 10, Apollo 17
- Michael Collins, USAF – Apollo 11
- Walter Cunningham, USMC – Apollo 7
- Donn Fulton Eisele, USAF – Apollo 7
- Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., USN – Apollo 12
- Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart, USAF – Apollo 9
- David Randolph Scott, USAF – Apollo 9, Apollo 15
From Astronaut Group 4
From Astronaut Group 5
- Charles Moss Duke, Jr., USAF – Apollo 16
- Ronald Ellwin Evans, Jr., USN – Apollo 17
- Fred Wallace Haise, Jr., USMC – Apollo 13
- James Benson Irwin, USAF – Apollo 15
- Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II, USN – Apollo 16
- Edgar Dean Mitchell, USN – Apollo 14
- Stuart Allen Roosa, USAF – Apollo 14
- John Leonard "Jack" Swigert, Jr., USAF – Apollo 13
- Alfred Merrill Worden, USAF – Apollo 15
In addition, the following astronauts flew on Post-Apollo missions using Apollo hardware:
From the Mercury Seven
From Astronaut Group 4
From Astronaut Group 5
- Vance DeVoe Brand, USMC – Skylab Rescue (never flown), Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
- Gerald Paul Carr, USMC – Skylab 4
- Jack Robert Lousma, USMC – Skylab 3
- William Reid Pogue, USAF – Skylab 4
- Paul Joseph Weitz, USN – Skylab 2
Missions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Moon_landing_map.jpg/220px-Moon_landing_map.jpg)
The Apollo program used four types of launch vehicles:
- Little Joe II - unmanned suborbital launch escape system development.
- Saturn I - unmanned suborbital and orbital hardware development.
- Saturn IB - unmanned and manned earth orbit development and operational missions.
- Saturn V - unmanned and manned earth orbit and lunar missions.
The Marshall Space Flight Center, which designed the Saturn rockets, referred to the flights as Saturn-Apollo (SA), while Kennedy Space Center referred to the flights as Apollo-Saturn (AS). This is why the unmanned Saturn 1 flights are referred to as SA and the unmanned Saturn 1B are referred to as AS. Dates given below are dates of launch.
Mission types
In September 1967, the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, proposed a series of missions that would lead up to a manned lunar landing. Seven mission types were outlined, each testing a specific set of components and tasks; each previous step needed to be completed successfully before the next mission type could be undertaken. These were:
- A - Unmanned Command/Service Module (CSM) test
- B - Unmanned Lunar Module (LM) test
- C - Manned CSM in low Earth orbit
- D - Manned CSM and LM in low Earth orbit
- E - Manned CSM and LM in an elliptical Earth orbit with an apogee of 4600 mi (7400 km)
- F - Manned CSM and LM in lunar orbit
- G - Manned lunar landing
Later added to this were H missions, which were short duration stays on the Moon with two LEVAs ("moonwalks"). These were followed by the J missions, which were longer 3 day stays, with 3 LEVAs and the use of the lunar rover. Apollo 18 to 20 would have been J missions.
In addition, a further group of flights — the I missions — were planned for. Lunar Orbital Survey Missions were conceived that would have seen a long duration orbital mission of the Moon using a Service Module bay loaded with scientific equipment. When it became obvious that later flights were being cancelled, such mission plans were brought into the J missions that were actually flown.
Unmanned missions
Mission | LV Serial No | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
SA-1 | S-101 | October 27, 1961 | 15:06 GMT | Test of the Saturn 1 Rocket |
SA-2 | S-102 | April 25, 1962 | 14:00 GMT | Test of the S-1 Rocket and carried 109 m³ of water into the upper atmosphere to investigate effects on radio transmission and changes in local weather conditions. |
SA-3 | AS-103 | November 16, 1962 | 17:45 GMT | Repeat of the SA-2 mission. |
SA-4 | AS-104 | March 28, 1963 | 20:11 GMT | Test effects of premature engine shutdown |
SA-5 | AS-105 | January 29, 1964 | 16:25 GMT | First flight of live second stage |
A-101 | AS-106 | May 28, 1964 | 17:07 GMT | Tested the structural integrity of a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module |
A-102 | AS-107 | September 18, 1964 | 17:22 GMT | Carried the first programmable computer on the Saturn I vehicle; last test flight |
A-103 | AS-109 | February 16, 1965 | 14:37 GMT | Carried Pegasus A micrometeorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
*A-104 | AS-108 | May 25, 1965 | 07:35 GMT | Carried Pegasus B micrometeorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
A-105 | AS-110 | July 30, 1965 | 13:00 GMT | Carried Pegasus C micrometeorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
Pad abort tests
Mission | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
Pad Abort Test-1 | November 7, 1963 | 16:00 GMT | Launch Escape System (LES) abort test from launch pad. |
Pad Abort Test-2 | June 29, 1965 | 13:00 GMT | LES pad abort test of near Block-I CM. |
Mission | LV Serial No | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
QTV | August 28, 1963 | 13:05 GMT | Little Joe II qualification test. | |
A-001 | May 13, 1964 | 13:00 GMT | LES transonic test failed. | |
A-002 | December 8, 1964 | 15:00 GMT | LES maximum altitude, Max-Q abort test. | |
A-003 | May 19, 1965 | 13:01 GMT | LES canard maximum altitude abort test. | |
A-004 | January 20, 1966 | 15:17 GMT | LES test of maximum weight, tumbling Block-I CM. |
Mission | Rocket | LV Serial No | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AS-201 | Saturn IB | AS-201 | February 26, 1966 | 16:12 GMT | First test flight of Saturn IB rocket |
AS-203 | Saturn IB | AS-203 | July 5, 1966 | 14:53 GMT | Investigated effects of weightlessness on fuel tanks of S-IVB |
AS-202 | Saturn IB | AS-202 | August 25, 1966 | 17:15 GMT | Sub-orbital test flight of Command and Service Module |
Apollo 4 | Saturn V | AS-501 | November 9, 1967 | 12:00 GMT | First test of the Saturn V booster |
Apollo 5 | Saturn IB | AS-204 | January 22, 1968 | 22:48 GMT | Test of the Saturn IB booster and Lunar Module |
Apollo 6 | Saturn V | AS-502 | April 4, 1968 | 16:12 GMT | Test of the Saturn V booster |
Skylab 1 | Saturn INT-21 | AS-513 | May 14, 1973 | 17:30 GMT | Unmanned launch of Skylab 1 workshop using Saturn INT-21 (two-stage version of the Saturn V booster). Last flight of Saturn V booster. |
Manned missions
Mission | Rocket | LV Serial No | Commander | Senior Pilot | Pilot | CM Name | LM Name | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apollo 1 | Saturn IB | AS-204 | Grissom | White | Chaffee | N/A | No LM | February 21, 1967 (Planned) | N/A | N/A |
Unlaunched - On January 27, 1967 Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed when fire erupts in their Apollo spacecraft during a test on the launch pad. | ||||||||||
Mission | Rocket | LV Serial No | Commander | CM Pilot | LM Pilot | CM Name | LM Name | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
Apollo 7 | Saturn IB | AS-205 | Schirra | Eisele | Cunningham | N/A | No LM | October 11, 1968 | 15:02 GMT | 10d 20h 09m 03s |
First manned Apollo flight, first manned flight of the Saturn IB. Only manned Apollo launch not from LC 39 | ||||||||||
Apollo 8 | Saturn V | AS-503 | Borman | Lovell | Anders | N/A | No LM | December 21, 1968 | 12:51 GMT | 06d 03h 00m 42s |
First manned flight around the Moon, first manned flight of the Saturn V. | ||||||||||
Apollo 9 | Saturn V | AS-504 | McDivitt | Scott | Schweickart | Gumdrop | Spider | March 3, 1969 | 16:00 GMT | 10d 01h 00m 54s |
First manned flight of the Lunar Module. | ||||||||||
Apollo 10 | Saturn V | AS-505 | Stafford | Young | Cernan | Charlie Brown | Snoopy | May 18, 1969 | 16:49 GMT | 08d 00h 03m 23s |
First manned flight of the Lunar Module around the Moon. | ||||||||||
Apollo 11 | Saturn V | AS-506 | Armstrong | Collins | Aldrin | Columbia | Eagle | July 16, 1969 | 13:32 GMT | 08d 03h 18m 35s |
First manned landing on the Moon, July 20. | ||||||||||
Apollo 12 | Saturn V | AS-507 | Conrad | Gordon | Bean | Yankee Clipper | Intrepid | November 14, 1969 | 16:22 GMT | 10d 04h 36m 24s |
First precise manned landing on the Moon. Recovered part of Surveyor 3 probe. | ||||||||||
Apollo 13 | Saturn V | AS-508 | Lovell | Swigert | Haise | Odyssey | Aquarius | April 11, 1970 | 19:13 GMT | 05d 22h 54m 41s |
Oxygen tank exploded en route, forcing cancellation of landing. First (and, as of 2006, only) manned non-orbital lunar flight. | ||||||||||
Apollo 14 | Saturn V | AS-509 | Shepard | Roosa | Mitchell | Kitty Hawk | Antares | January 31, 1971 | 21:03 GMT | 09d 00h 01m 58s |
Alan Shepard, the sole astronaut of the Mercury MR-3 mission - and thus the first American in space - walks (and plays golf) on the Moon. | ||||||||||
Apollo 15 | Saturn V | AS-510 | Scott | Worden | Irwin | Endeavour | Falcon | July 26, 1971 | 13:34 GMT | 12d 07h 11m 53s |
First mission with the Lunar Rover vehicle. | ||||||||||
Apollo 16 | Saturn V | AS-511 | Young | Mattingly | Duke | Casper | Orion | April 16, 1972 | 17:54 GMT | 11d 01h 51m 05s |
First landing in the lunar highlands. | ||||||||||
Apollo 17 | Saturn V | AS-512 | Cernan | Evans | Schmitt | America | Challenger | December 7, 1972 | 05:33 GMT | 12d 13h 51m 59s |
Final Apollo lunar mission, first night launch, only mission with a professional geologist. |
The original pre-lunar landing program was more conservative but, as the 'all-up' test flights for the Saturn V proved successful, some missions were deleted. The revised schedule published in October 1967 had the first manned Apollo CSM earth orbit mission (Apollo 7) followed by an Earth Orbit Rendezvous of the CSM and LM launched on two Saturn 1Bs (Apollo 8) followed by a Saturn V launched CSM on a Large Earth Orbit Mission (Apollo 9) followed by the Saturn V launched dress rehearsal in Lunar Orbit with Apollo 10. By the summer of 1968 it became clear to program managers that a fully functional LM would not be available for the Apollo 8 mission. Rather than perform a simple earth orbiting mission, they chose to send Apollo 8 around the moon during Christmas. The original idea for this switch was the brainchild of George Low. Although it has often been claimed that this change was made as a direct response to Soviet attempts to fly a piloted Zond spacecraft around the moon, there is no evidence that this was actually the case. NASA officials were aware of the Soviet Zond flights, but the timing of the Zond missions does not correspond well with the extensive written record from NASA about the Apollo 8 decision. It is relatively certain that the Apollo 8 decision was primarily based upon the LM schedule, rather than fear of the Soviets beating the Americans to the moon.
Cancelled lunar missions
Mission name/designation | Commander | CM Pilot | LM Pilot | Mission date | Date of cancellation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apollo 18 | Gordon | Brand | Schmitt | July 1972 | September 2, 1970 |
Budget cuts - NOTE: The Apollo 15 designation was re-used as Apollo 16 became 15, 17 became 16, and 18 became 17. | |||||
Apollo 19 | Haise | Pogue | Carr | February 1973 | September 2, 1970 |
Budget cuts | |||||
Apollo 20 | Roosa | Lousma | Lind | December 1973 | January 4, 1970 |
Launch vehicle needed to launch Skylab |
Post-Apollo missions using Apollo hardware and Saturn IB
Mission | Rocket | LV Serial No | Commander | Pilot | Science Pilot | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skylab 2 | Saturn IB | AS-206 | Conrad | Weitz | Kerwin | May 25, 1973 | 13:00 GMT | 28d 00h 49m 49s |
First crew of the Skylab Space Station. | ||||||||
Skylab 3 | Saturn IB | AS-207 | Bean | Lousma | Garriott | July 28, 1973 | 11:10 GMT | 59d 11h 09m 34s |
Second Skylab crew. SM thruster malfunction nearly necessitated a Rescue Mission. | ||||||||
Skylab 4 | Saturn IB | AS-208 | Carr | Pogue | Gibson | November 16 1973 | 14:01 GMT | 84d 01h 15m 31s |
Third and final Skylab crew. Penultimate flight of Apollo. | ||||||||
Mission | Rocket | LV Serial No | Commander | CM Pilot | Docking Module Pilot | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Apollo 18) | Saturn IB | AS-209 | Stafford | Brand | Slayton | July 15 1975 | 12:20 GMT | 05d 22h 30m 54s |
Final flight of both Apollo and the Saturn Ib. Rendezvous and docking with Soyuz 19 spacecraft. |
Launch Complex utilization
- Launch Complex 34 - SA-1, SA-2, SA-3, SA-4, AS-201, AS-202, AS-204 (Apollo 1), AS-205 (Apollo 7)
- Launch Complex 37A - no launches
- Launch Complex 37B - SA-5, A-101, A-102, A-103, A-104, A-105, AS-203, AS-204 (Apollo 5)
- Launch Complex 39A - AS-501 (Apollo 4), AS-502 (Apollo 6), AS-503 (Apollo 8), AS-504 (Apollo 9), AS-506 (Apollo 11), AS-507 (Apollo 12), AS-508 (Apollo 13), AS-509 (Apollo 14), AS-510 (Apollo 15), AS-511 (Apollo 16), AS-512 (Apollo 17), AS-513 (Skylab 1)
- Launch Complex 39B - AS-505 (Apollo 10), AS-206 (Skylab 2), AS-207 (Skylab 3), AS-208 (Skylab 4), AS-210 (ASTP).
Samples Returned
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Lunar_Ferroan_Anorthosite_60025.jpg/150px-Lunar_Ferroan_Anorthosite_60025.jpg)
Lunar Mission |
Sample Returned |
---|---|
Apollo 11 | 22 kg |
Apollo 12 | 34 kg |
Apollo 14 | 43 kg |
Apollo 15 | 77 kg |
Apollo 16 | 95 kg |
Apollo 17 | 111 kg |
Apollo returned 381.7 kg (841.5 lb) of rocks and other material from the Moon, much of which is stored at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston.
In general the rocks collected from the Moon are extremely old compared to rocks found on Earth, as measured by radiometric dating techniques. They range in age from about 3.2 billion years old for the basaltic samples derived from the lunar mare, to about 4.6 billion years for samples derived from the highlands crust.[2] As such, they represent samples from a very early period in the evolution of the Solar System that is largely missing from Earth. One important rock found during the Apollo Program was the Genesis Rock, retrieved by astronauts James Irwin and David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission. This rock is composed almost exclusively of the mineral anorthosite, and is believed to be representative of the highland crust. A geochemical component called KREEP (an acronym for rocks with high abundances of potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorous) was discovered that has no known terrestrial counterpart. Together, KREEP and the anorthositic samples have been used to infer that the outer portion of the Moon was once completely molten (see lunar magma ocean).
Almost all of the rocks show evidence for having been affected by impact processes. For instance, many samples appear to be pitted with micrometeoroid impact craters, something which is never seen on earth due to its thick atmosphere. Additionally, many show signs of being subjected to high pressure shock waves that are generated during impacts events. Some of the returned samples are of impact melt, referring to materials that are melted in the vicinity of an impact crater. Finally, all samples returned from the Moon are highly brecciated as a result of being subjected to multiple impact events.
Apollo Applications
In the speech which initiated Apollo, Kennedy declared that no other program would have as great a long-range effect on America's ambitions in outer space. Following the success of Project Apollo, both NASA and its major contractors investigated several post-lunar applications for the Apollo hardware. The "Apollo Extension Series", later called the "Apollo Applications Program", proposed up to thirty flights to Earth Orbit. Many of these would use the space that the lunar module took up in the Saturn rocket to carry scientific equipment.
One plan involved using the Saturn IB to take the Command/Service Module (CSM) to a variety of low-earth orbits for missions lasting up to 45 days. Some missions would involve the docking of two CSMs, and transfer of supplies. The Saturn V would be necessary to take it to polar orbit, or sun-synchronous orbit (neither of which has yet been achieved by any manned spacecraft), and even to the geosynchronous orbit of Syncom 3, a communications satellite not quite in geostationary orbit. This was the first functioning communications satellite at that now-common great distance from the Earth, and it was small enough to be carried through the hatch and taken back to Earth for study as to the effects of radiation on its electronic components in that environment over a period of years. A return to the moon was also planned, this time to orbit for a longer time to map the surface with high-precision equipment. This mission would not include a landing.
Of all the plans, only two were implemented: the Skylab space station (May 1973 – February 1974), and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (July 1975). Skylab's fuselage was constructed from the second stage of a Saturn IB, and the station was equipped with the Apollo Telescope Mount, itself based on a lunar module. The station's three crews were ferried into orbit atop Saturn IBs, riding in CSMs; the station itself had been launched with a modified Saturn V. Skylab's last crew departed the station on February 8, 1974, whilst the station itself returned prematurely to Earth in 1979, by which time it had become the oldest operational Apollo component.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project involved a docking in Earth orbit between an unnamed CSM and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The mission lasted from July 15 to July 24, 1975. Although the Soviet Union continued to operate the Soyuz and Salyut space vehicles, NASA's next manned mission would not be until STS-1 on April 12, 1981.
In 1964/5 Grumman, the primary contrator for the Apollo LM systems, attempted to interest the USAF and Navy in a military version of CSM/LM configuration. The LM would have been equipped with a manipulator arm and projectile weapons to intercept and disable enemy satellites. The proposal was never fully developed and was abandoned in 1967. In the same time period, Grumman proposed using an Apollo spacecraft to send a mission to land on a Near-Earth asteroid. Only about half a dozen were known at the time, with close approaches occurring about every three or four years. NASA found the scheme too marginal to pursue.
End of the program
Originally three additional lunar landing missions had been planned, as Apollo 18 through Apollo 20. In light of the drastically shrinking NASA budget and the decision not to produce a second batch of Saturn Vs, these missions were cancelled to make funds available for the development of the Space Shuttle, and to make their Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V launch vehicles available to the Skylab program. Only one of the remaining Saturn Vs was actually used; the others became museum exhibits.
The next generation of NASA spacecraft, the Orion (Formerly the Crew Exploration Vehicle or CEV), which is to replace the Space Shuttle following its retirement in 2010, is influenced largely by the Apollo Program. The most notable difference is that the CEV will return to Earth on land, much like the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, rather than at sea as the Apollos did. Like Apollo, the CEV will fly a lunar orbit rendezvous mission profile, but unlike Apollo, the lander, known as the Lunar Surface Access Module, will be launched separately on the Ares V rocket, a rocket based on both Space Shuttle and Apollo technologies. Orion will be launched separately and will link up with the LSAM in low earth orbit like that of the Skylab program. Also, Orion, unlike Apollo, will remain unmanned in lunar orbit while the entire crew lands on the lunar surface, with the lunar polar regions in mind instead of the equatorial regions explored by Apollo.
The Apollo program stimulated many areas of technology. The flight computer design used in both the lunar and command modules was, along with the Minuteman Missile System, the driving force behind early research into integrated circuits. The fuel cell developed for this program was the first practical fuel cell. Computer-controlled machining (CNC) was pioneered in fabricating Apollo structural components.
Many astronauts and cosmonauts have commented on the profound effects that seeing Earth from space has had on them. One of the most important legacies of the Apollo program was the now-common, but not universal, view of Earth as a fragile, small planet, captured in the photographs taken by the astronauts during the lunar missions. The most famous of these photographs, taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts, is "The Blue Marble". These photographs have also motivated many people toward environmentalism and space colonization.
The cost of the entire program is estimated at $135 billion (2006 dollars) ($25.4 billion in 1969 dollars).[citation needed] The Apollo spacecraft cost $28 billion (2006 dollars) to develop: $17 billion for the command and service modules, and $11 billion for the Lunar Module. The Saturn I, IB and V launch vehicle development cost about $46 billion.
It appears that much of the original film and telemetry data is missing. For more information see Apollo program missing tapes.
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Apollo Guidance Computer
- Apollo Moon Landing hoax accusations
- Apollo Spacecraft
- Apollo Lunar Module
- Apollo Command/Service Module
- Orion (spacecraft) - The successor to the Apollo CSM
- Lunar Surface Access Module - The successor to the Apollo LM
- Apollo TV camera
- Extra-vehicular activity - List and duration of moonwalks
- Launch complex 39
- List of artificial objects on the Moon
- LLRV
- Moon
- Project Constellation - Program to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020
- Saturn I
- Saturn IB
- Ares I - The successor to both the Saturn I and Saturn IB
- Saturn V
- Ares V - The successor to the Saturn V
- Skylab
- Soviet moonshot
- Splashdown
References
Cited references
- ^ a b John F. Kennedy, "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs", May 25 1961
- ^ James Papike, Grahm Ryder, and Charles Shearer (1998). "Lunar Samples". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. 36: 5.1–5.234.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
General references
- Kranz, Gene, Failure is Not an Option. Factual, from the standpoint of a chief flight controller during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. ISBN 0-7432-0079-9
- Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. ISBN 0-14-027201-1. Chaikin has interviewed all the surviving astronauts, plus many others who worked with the program.
- Murray, Charles; Cox, Catherine B. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. ISBN 0-671-61101-1. This is an excellent account of what it took to build and fly Apollo.
- Cooper, Henry S. F. Jr. Thirteen: The Flight That Failed. ISBN 0-8018-5097-5. Although this book focuses on Apollo 13, it is extremely well-researched and provides a wealth of background information on Apollo technology and procedures.
- Wilhelms, Don E. To a Rocky Moon. ISBN 0-8165-1065-2. Tells the history of Lunar exploration from a geologist's point of view.
- Pellegrino, Charles R.; Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. ISBN 0-380-80261-9. Tells Grumman's story of building the Lunar Modules.
- Lovell, Jim; Kluger, Jeffrey. Lost Moon: The perilous voyage of Apollo 13 aka Apollo 13: Lost Moon. ISBN 0-618-05665-3. Details the flight of Apollo 13.
- Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire; an Astronaut's journeys. Astronaut Mike Collins autobiography of his experiences as an astronaut, including his flight aboard Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon
- Slayton, Donald K.; Cassutt, Michael. Deke! An Autobiograpy. ISBN 0-312-85918-X. This is an excellent account of Deke Slayton's life as an astronaut and of his work as chief of the astronaut office, including selection of the crews which flew Apollo to the Moon.
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- Template:PDFlink From origin to 7 November. 1962
- Template:PDFlink 8 November 1962 - 30 September 1964
- Template:PDFlink 1 October 1964 - 20 January 1966
- Template:PDFlink 21 January 1966 - 13 July 1974
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External links
- A Collection of Apollo Lunar Surface Panoramas
- Official Apollo program website
- Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft By Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson
- NASA SP-4009 The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology
- SP-4029 Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff
- The Apollo Program Page at the NASA History Division Website
- The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal
- The Apollo Flight Journal
- Project Apollo (Kennedy Space Center)
- Project Apollo Drawings and Technical Diagrams
- Lunar Rock Inventory
- The Project Apollo Archive
- Spirit of Apollo Apollo 11 Memorial Video
- Apollo Video Montage
- The Apollo Program (National Air and Space Museum)
- Project Apollo for Orbiter spaceflight simulator
- Google Moon: interactive map of the Moon and Apollo landing sites
- Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space: a game that simulates the Space Race
- Apollo Space Missions - audio clips and quotes-