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President Kennedy announced that the goals of the Apollo mission
were to:
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Land Americans on the Moon and return
them safely to Earth |
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Create technology to meet national
interests in space |
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Make the United States number 1 in
space |
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Carry out a program of scientific
exploration of the moon |
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Develop man’s ability to work in
a lunar environment |
The Apollo spacecraft was made of 3 parts. The command
module (CM) held the crew's quarters and flight control instruments. The service
module (SM) was for the propulsion and spacecraft support systems. The first 2
modules joined together were called the CSM. The third part of an Apollo spacecraft
was the lunar module (LM) which took 2 of the crew members to the lunar surface and
returned them later to the CSM.
Apollo 1 was scheduled to be the first manned Apollo mission and
was to be launched on Feb. 21, 1967. But on Jan. 27, 1967, during a preflight test on the
launchpad, fire swept through the command module. The three astronauts, Gus Grissom,
Ed White, and Roger Chafee were killed. NASA later said that a combination of a 100%
pure oxygen environment, a loose wire that sparked and too much velcro tape caused the
fire. The astronauts could not escape because the hatch could only be opened from the
outside. All these things were fixed for the next Apollo missions.
No missions were set for Apollo 2 and 3 and Apollo 4, 5 and 6
were unmanned missions.
| Manned Apollo Missions |
| Apollo 7 |
.... |
Rocket: Saturn 1B |
| Mission Dates |
|
Oct. 11-22, 1968 |
| Crew |
|
Walter Schirra Jr., Donn Eisele,
Walter Cunningham |
| Mission Length |
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10 days 20 hours |
163 Earth orbits completed. First
colds caught in space. First live TV broadcast from piloted spacecraft.
| Apollo 8 (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
Dec. 21-27, 1968 |
| Crew |
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Frank Borman, James
Lovell Jr., William Anders |
| Mission Length |
|
6 days 3 hours |
First manned lunar orbital mission
(10 orbits). Sent TV pictures of the Moon.
| Apollo 9 Gumdrop(CM) and
Spider(LM) (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
March 3-13, 1969 |
| Crew |
|
James McDivitt, David
Scott, Russell Schweickart |
| Mission Length |
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10 days, 1 hour |
EVA (extra vehicular activity)
spacewalk lasting 37 minutes. Astronaut reactions to weightlessness tested.
Lunar module (LM) tested.
| Apollo 10 Charlie Brown(CM) and Snoopy(LM)
(Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
May 18-26, 1969 |
| Crew |
|
Eugene Cernan, John Young,
Thomas Stafford |
| Mission Length |
|
8 days, 3 minutes |
Final test for Moon landing. First
live color TV from space. First men to shave in space.
| Apollo 11 Columbia (CM) and Eagle (LM) (Rocket:
Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
July 16-24, 1969 |
| Crew |
|
Neil Armstrong, Michael
Collins, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin |
| Mission Length |
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8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes |
First lunar landing mission and walk on the Moon (surface
EVA). Collected almost 50 pounds (22 kg) or lunar material.
Apollo 12 Yankee Clipper (CM)
and Intrepid(LM) (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
November. 14-24, 1969 |
| Crew |
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Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon,
Alan Bean |
| Mission Length |
|
Stayed 31.5 hours on the Moon. |
Landed on the Moon in Ocean of
Storms. Retrieved portions of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft which landed on the
Moon in 1967.
 :
| Apollo 13 Odyssey and Aquarius
(Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
|
April 11-17, 1970 |
| Crew |
|
James Lovell, Jack Swigert,
Fred Haise |
| Mission Length |
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5 days, 22 hours |
Third lunar landing attempt.
Mission was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded. As a result of an intensive
effort by NASA and the astronauts, the crew returned safely.
 :
Apollo 14 Kitty Hawk(CM) and
Antares(LM) (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
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Jan. 31-Feb. 9, 1971 |
| Crew |
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Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa,
Edgar Mitchell |
| Mission Length |
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9 days |
Two surface walks totalled 9 hrs,
25 min.. Gathered 98 pounds (44.5 kg) of lunar material. Alan Shepard hit a 6 iron on the
Moon.
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Apollo 15 Endeavor(CM) and
Falcon (LM) (rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
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July 26-Aug. 7, 1971 |
| Crew |
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David Scott, James Irwin,
Alfred Worden |
| Mission Length |
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12 days, 17 hrs |
First use of Lunar Roving
Vehicle(LRV). Gathered 170 pounds (77.1 kg) of lunar materials during 3 EVA's.
Increased mobility due to alterations to spacesuits..
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| Apollo 16 Casper (CM) and Orion
(LM) (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
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April 16-27, 1972 |
| Crew |
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John Young, Tom Mattingly, II,
Charles Duke Jr. |
| Mission Length |
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11 days, 1 hr, 51 min. |
First study of highlands area of
Moon. Stayed on Moon 71 hours. Collected 213 pounds (95.8 kg) of lunar materials.
Second use of Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV).
 :
Apollo 17 America (CM) and
Challenger(LM) (Rocket: Saturn 5) |
| Mission Dates |
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Dec. 7-19, 1972 |
| Crew |
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Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans,
Harrison Schmitt |
| Mission Length |
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12 days 13 hrs, 52 min. |
Last lunar landing mission. Schmitt
was the first scientist-astronaut on the Moon. Gathered 243 pounds (110.4 kg) of
lunar materials. Cernan was the last man to walk on the Moon.
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