NASA’s Apollo program was its flagship effort in the 1960s and ’70s for human exploration of space, using Saturn family rockets to send 12 crewed missions to land humans on lunar surfaces and 1 uncrewed test flight.
Apollo 1 was the inaugural crewed mission, yet tragically failed when its crew module caught fire during a pre-launch test on January 27, 1967, killing astronauts Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White.
How many missions did apollo have?
The Apollo Program ran from 1969-1972 and saw 12 astronauts land on the moon – marking it as one of the defining moments in U.S. history and providing significant support to NASA research into exoplanets similar to Earth.
Apollo 11 astronauts performed important scientific work that provided us with greater understanding of the moon and other celestial bodies, including drilling core samples, measuring seismic activity (“moonquakes”), studying near-vacuum lunar air effects and collecting other important scientific data. Their efforts helped shed light on its origins while offering us opportunities to discover other celestial bodies further away.
Space Launch System will take the place of Saturn V rockets used for Apollo missions and propel astronauts on trips to Mars and beyond. Its first mission, Artemis, is scheduled for 2024 with women and people of color crew members becoming first women and people of color ever to fly into space.
Apollo 1
The Apollo program was NASA’s attempt to meet President Kennedy’s challenge of landing astronauts on the moon, making it one of the largest research and development projects ever attempted during peacetime, employing up to half a million workers at its peak across America.
Mercury program crews were used as preparation for Apollo missions by NASA. Unfortunately, Apollo 1 met its tragic fate when a fire broke out during an on-pad test; three astronauts, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee perished as a result.
NASA delayed other crewed Apollo flights until changes could be implemented, leading up to Apollo 8 mission launch on December 21, 1968, featuring astronauts Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman breaking lunar orbit and taking their iconic Earthrise photo which many consider humankind’s first step as cosmic space travelers.
Apollo 2
The Apollo program consisted of a series of manned space missions that culminated with the first moon landing. It emerged during the Cold War – as competition between capitalist America and communist Russia over technical superiority became a priority – to demonstrate their technological superiority over each other.
At its height, the Apollo program employed nearly 400,000 Americans throughout the U.S. including astronauts, mission controllers and thousands of engineers – it was also one of the costliest peacetime projects ever attempted.
NASA began their Apollo program with unmanned tests of both its Command/Service Module (CSM) and Saturn V rocket. Apollo 1, their final pre-launch test before crewed launch was aborted due to a fire in spacecraft killing astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White during pre-launch testing on January 27, 1967. NASA then continued with their remaining five Apollo manned missions all featuring upgraded Lunar Modules and modified lunar buggies.
Apollo 3
The Apollo program was an answer to the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union for supremacy in space exploration. While successful, it was costly; most expenditures went towards Saturn launch vehicles and spacecraft which rode them.
Apollo 1 ended tragically when fire spread through its crew module during a test run and caused its explosion, taking with it three astronauts: Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White who all perished as a result.
Subsequent missions were successful. Of particular note was Apollo 15, with its historic lunar rover debut (known as a moon buggy). Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin drove it 17 miles on three moonwalks collecting over 200 pounds of samples while testing Galileo’s theory that objects in vacuum environments fall at equal rates without air resistance.
Apollo 4
After NASA’s Mercury program demonstrated astronauts could survive for longer than just several weeks in space, it began developing larger and more sophisticated launch vehicles and spacecraft for future missions; Apollo represented this work.
On November 9, 1967, an uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V rocket, originally designated Apollo 1, took place without astronauts on board. Astronauts Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham flew into space aboard this mission but failed to achieve its primary aim of placing astronauts into lunar orbit.
The inaugural crewed Apollo flight, known as AS-204, occurred on October 4, 1968. Command Module Pilot John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke drove a lunar roving vehicle known as a moon buggy across three moonwalks to collect hundreds of pounds worth of samples from lunar surface areas.
Apollo 5
NASA’s Apollo program ran from 1961-1972 and saw six astronauts reach the moon. Launch vehicles such as Saturn IB and V were used to place Command/Service Module and Lunar Module spacecraft into orbit, as well as Little Joe II rocket to test launch escape systems.
Apollo 5 marked the inaugural flight test of the Lunar Module (LM), which would eventually carry astronauts to the lunar surface. It tested both ascent and descent engines as well as separation of its ascent/descent stages.
This mission also featured numerous science experiments, such as one where astronauts conducted measurements on the composition of solar wind reaches the Moon. Soil and rock samples were also taken for testing purposes as well as taking photographs that are now iconic, such as “Earthrise”.
Apollo 6
Apollo 6 was the second all-up unmanned test flight of Saturn V, designed to qualify it for crewed missions and assess whether its command module heat shield could withstand reentry speeds.
Commander John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke participated in three lunar surface EVAs to collect 209 pounds of samples, in addition to conducting various experiments designed to test Galileo’s theory that objects in space fall at equal rates.
This mission was notable for being the first time astronauts used a lunar rover, allowing them to traverse lunar terrain at will. Additionally, its dramatic reentry set an international record as the fastest human-initiated return ever achieved by humans; additionally it featured what later became known as “Earthrise”, an iconic photograph credited with inspiring environmental activism worldwide.
Apollo 7
NASA’s Apollo program marked its first attempt to place humans on the moon, starting with uncrewed missions testing Saturn rockets and Command/Service Modules (CSMs). Apollo 10 astronauts tested an experimental reentry system by descending at 36,397 feet per second – making this attempt the fastest human re-entry ever! However, not without complications; Commander Walter Schirra became unwell during space travel due to lack of gravity draining away mucus from nose and throat passageways.
Mercury and Gemini veteran Walter “Wally” Schirra piloted Apollo 7, launched October 11-22 for an Earth orbital test flight and lunar module shakedown. Donn Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham tested out their CSM; docking with an empty upper stage from their booster; practicing rendezvous techniques; firing their Service Propulsion System engine that lunar crews will use when entering or departing lunar orbit; docked with an empty upper stage from a booster; practicing rendezvous techniques for rendezvousing; firing their Service Propulsion System Engine engine which lunar-bound crews would use to enter and exit lunar orbit for use during missions en route to lunar orbit.
Apollo 8
NASA launched Apollo 8 on an expedited schedule after conducting uncrewed test flights and successfully proving that its Saturn V rocket could accomplish translunar injection, sending its spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon. Furthermore, Apollo 8 provided valuable data about both command module and lunar module capabilities as well as providing insight into future landing sites that might be used.
Astronauts were not able to land on the Moon directly, but they took many photographs of it and its surroundings – most famous among these photos being Earthrise which became one of the most widely reproduced space photos ever taken.
Once Lovell had completed 10 orbits of the moon, he fired his SPS engine to slow down and enter lunar orbit. Along with Borman, they provided a Christmas Eve television broadcast featuring reading of ten verses from Genesis.
Apollo 9
Apollo 9 marked the first space test of the entire Apollo spacecraft, including its lunar module that would carry astronauts to the moon. On March 3, 1969, a Saturn V rocket launched astronauts James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart into low Earth orbit to test out command and service module (CSM) and lunar lander components – docking and undocking the LM with CSM several times as well as performing a spacewalk without using life support system in capsule.
Apollo 10’s crew conducted several test runs close to the Moon, including testing its lunar module and resin heat shield in preparation for their first landing on November 13, 1969. They set an amazing speed record by traveling at nearly 36,400 feet per second reentry – only time in history that any NASA spacecraft exceeded this mark! America and Russia were engaged in an intense space race during this program period.