“That’s one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong
1962-1972
6
Lunar Landing Missions
11
Crewed Missions
Astronauts on the moon
Commander for Apollo 11, first to step on the lunar surface.
Apollo 11, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo 12, Commander
Apollo 12, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo 14, Commander
Apollo 14, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo 15, Commander
Apollo 15, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo 16, Commander
Apollo 16, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo 17, Commander
Apollo 17, Lunar Module Pilot
Apollo’s Goals
The national effort that enabled Astronaut Neil Armstrong to speak those words as he stepped onto the lunar surface fulfilled a dream as old as humanity. Project Apollo’s goals went beyond landing Americans on the moon and returning them safely to Earth. They included:
- Establishing the technology to meet other national interests in space.
- Achieving preeminence in space for the United States.
- Carrying out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon.
- Developing humancapability to work in the lunar environment.
Rocket and Spacecraft
The flight mode, lunar orbit rendezvous, was selected in 1962. The boosters for the program were the Saturn IB for Earth orbit flights and the Saturn V for lunar flights.
Apollo was a three-part spacecraft: the command module (CM), the crew’s quarters and flight control section; the service module (SM) for the propulsion and spacecraft support systems (when together, the two modules are called CSM); and the lunar module (LM), to take two of the crew to the lunar surface, support them on the Moon, and return them to the CSM in lunar orbit.
View the Apollo Spacecraft News Reference book published in 1968.
All Apollo Articles
Learn more about the selection of Apollo astronauts, development of the Apollo spacecraft, details about each of the missions, and much more.
4 min read
Current and former employees of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered recently to celebrate the installation of a Florida…
Article
21 min read
The march to the first Moon landing took a giant leap forward in May 1969 with the successful completion of…
Article
21 min read
The road to the Moon landing cleared a major hurdle in March 1969 with the flight of Apollo 9 that…
Article
Apollo 7
The first crewed flight of the Apollo program. The mission objectives were to demonstrate the Command and Service Module (CSM) with crew performance; demonstrate mission support facilities’ performance during a…
Learn MoreOct 22, 1968 07:11 UTC
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 'Round the moon and back…" The mission objectives for Apollo 8 included a coordinated performance of the crew, the command and service module, or CSM, and the support…
Learn MoreDec 27, 1968 12:27 UTC
Apollo 9
The primary objective of Apollo 9 was an Earth-orbital engineering test of the first crewed lunar module, or LM. Other prime objectives included an overall checkout of launch vehicle and…
Learn MoreMar 13, 1969 11:01 UTC
Apollo 10
The Apollo 10 mission encompassed all aspects of an actual crewed lunar landing, except the landing. It was the first flight of a complete, crewed Apollo spacecraft to operate around…
Learn MoreMay 26, 1969 12:52 UTC
Apollo 11
Learn MoreJul 24, 1969 04:50 UTC
Apollo 12
The primary mission objectives of the second crewed lunar landing included an extensive series of lunar exploration tasks by the lunar module, or LM, crew, as well as the deployment…
Learn MoreNov 24, 1969 01:43 UTC
Apollo 13
Learn More
Apollo 14
The primary objectives of this mission were to explore the Fra Mauro region centered around deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Scientific Experiments Package, or ALSEP; lunar field geology investigations;…
Learn MoreFeb 09, 1971 03:13 UTC
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the first of the Apollo “J” missions capable of a longer stay time on the moon and greater surface mobility. There were four primary objectives falling in…
Learn MoreAug 07, 1971 08:42 UTC
Apollo 16
Three primary objectives of the Apollo 16 mission were (1) to inspect, survey, and sample materials and surface features at a selected landing site in the Descartes region; (2) emplace…
Learn MoreApr 27, 1972 08:44 UTC
Apollo 17
Learn MoreDec 19, 1972 10:18 UTC
Dig Deeper with Apollo Research Resources
Apollo Flight Journal
The Apollo Flight Journal is a resource for those interested in the Apollo flights to the Moon and covers eleven human flights of the Apollo program, relating the parts of the missions not on the lunar surface.
Apollo Lunar Surface Journal
The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal is a record of the lunar surface operations conducted by the six pairs of astronauts who landed on the Moon from 1969 through 1972.
NASA History's Apollo Publications
Download chronologies, management and program histories and other in-depth publications about the Apollo program.
Remembering Apollo 1
Biographies, reports, bibliographies and other resources relating to the Apollo 1 tragedy that took the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.
Annotated Bibliography of the Apollo Program
Compiled by Roger D. Launius and J.D. Hunley, this selective, annotated bibliography includes works judged to be most essential for researchers seeking to learn more about the Apollo program's varied history.
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