Apollo

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The Apollo project was the U. S. project to land a man on the moon. Apollo is also the collective name of the spacecraft, comprising the Apollo Lunar Module (LM, or LEM), the Apollo Command Module (CM), and the Service Module (SM). The Apollo spacecraft were launched with the Saturn-1b booster (for missions to Earth orbit) and with the Saturn V booster (for missions to orbit or land on the moon).

The Apollo project comprised 14 launches, plus an additional three launches of Apollo spacecraft in the Skylab project:

  • Apollo 1, a mission to test systems integration of the "new" generation of Apollo spacecraft. The mission was lost due to a fire caused by velcro in an over-pressurized pure Oxygen environment (20 lbs/in.2), resulting in the loss of the three astronauts crew.
  • The numbers Apollo 2 and 3 were not used. The spacecraft which would have flown these missions were used as test items in the redesign of the Apollo spacecraft following the Apollo-1 fire.
  • Apollo 4 was the first flight of the Saturn V.
  • Apollo 5 was the first flight of the Apollo Lunar Module.
  • Apollo 6 was the final unmanned test launch of the Saturn V.
  • Apollo 7 was the first launch of the Apollo spacecraft, testing the Command and Service Module spacecraft in Earth orbit.
  • The Apollo 8 was the first mission in which humans orbited the moon. The mission test launched the Saturn-V booster and the Command Service Module.
  • Apollo-9 was the first mission to test the Lunar Module in Earth orbit.
  • Apollo 10 was the first mission tested the Lunar Module (as well as the Command and Service Modules) in orbit around the moon without landing.
  • Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17 successfully completed their missions on the surface of the moon.
  • The Apollo 13 mission failed to land, but succeeded in returning the astronauts safely after a fly-by of the moon.
  • Finally, the Apollo spacecraft was used in three missions to the Skylab space station in Earth orbit and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). The Apollo-Soyuz missions were designed to use up surplus resources and to generate goodwill with the USSR.

The Apollo missions are to date the main source of lunar samples.

The Six Missions that Landed on the Moon

  • Apollo 11 was the first mission to land humans (Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Pilot Buzz Aldrin) on the moon at Mare Tranquilitatis (The Sea of Tranquility), on July 20, 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon. The crew for this mission was Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins.
  • Apollo 12 landed in Oceanus Procellarum (The Ocean of Storms), on November 14, 1969. The crew for this mission was Commander Pete Conrad, Lunar Module Pilot Al Bean, and Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon.
  • Apollo 14 landed in Fra Mauro, about 100 miles East of the Apollo 12 site, on February 5, 1971. The crew for this mission was Commander Alan Shepherd, Lunar Module Pilot Ed Mitchell, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa.
  • Apollo 15 landed in Hadley Rille, on August 7, 1971. This mission is significant in that it is the first to use a lunar rover, which increased their range, and the first to focus on geology field research (the best samples were gathered during the Apollo 15-17 missions). This mission is significant for Scott's discovery of an anorthositic rock that indicated the age of the moon (named the Genesis Rock). The crew for this mission was Commander David Scott, Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin, and Command Module Pilot Al Worden.
  • Apollo 16 landed in the Descartes Highlands, on April 21, 1972. Crewed by Commander John Young, Lunar Pilot Charles Duke, and Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly.
  • Apollo 17 landed in the Taurus_Littrow Lunar Highlands, on December 11, 1972. This mission is significant in that it is both the first and only mission to have a geologist (Schmitt), and that it is the last of the Apollo missions. Schmitt discovered orange "soil", minerals that were formed by the process of volcanic glassification. The crew for this mission was Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans.

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