PROJECT APOLLO "THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND." 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. But Project Apollo's goals went beyond landing Americans on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth: * To establish the technology to meet other national interests in space; * To achieve preeminence in space for the United States; * To carry out a program of scientific ex- ploration of the Moon; and * To develop man's capability to work in the lunar environment. APOLLO 204/APOLLO 1 January 27, 1967. Tragedy struck on the launch pad during a preflight test for Apollo 204 (AS-204), which was scheduled to be the first Apollo manned mission, and would have been launched on February 21, 1967. Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the Command Module (CM). The exhaustive investigation of the fire and extensive reworking of the CMs postponed any manned launch until NASA officials cleared the CM for manned flight. Saturn 1B schedules were suspended for nearly a year, and the launch vehicle that finally bore the designation AS-204 carried a Lunar Module (LM) as the payload, not the Apollo CM. The missions of AS-201 and AS-202 with Apollo spacecraft aboard had been unofficially known as Apollo 1 and Apollo 2 missions (AS-203 carried only the aerodynamic nose cone). In the spring of 1967, NASA's Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, Dr. George E. Mueller, announced that the mission originally scheduled for Grissom, White and Chaffee would be known as Apollo 1, and said that the first Saturn V launch, scheduled for November 1967, would be known as Apollo 4. The eventual launch of AS-204 became known as the Apollo 5 mission (no missions or flights were ever designated Apollo 2 and 3). The second launch of a Saturn V took place on schedule in the early morning of April 4, 1968. Known as AS-502, or Apollo 6, the flight was a success, though two first stage engines shut down prematurely, and the third stage engine failed to re-ignite after reaching orbit. THE SPACECRAFT 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. 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. The crews that made lunar flights where both CM and LM were involved, again selected call names. In the list of flights, crews are named in the following order: Commander, CM Pilot, LM Pilot. The call names for the spacecraft, in parentheses are the CM and LM respectively. THE MANNED FLIGHTS Apollo 7 Saturn 1B October 11-22, 1968 Walter M. Schirra, Jr. Donn F. Eisele R. Walter Cunningham 10 days, 20 hours 163 Earth orbits. First manned CSM operations in lunar landing program. First live TV from manned spacecraft. Apollo 8 Saturn V December 21-27, 1968 Frank Borman James A. Lovell, Jr. William A. Anders 06 days, 03 hours In lunar orbit 20 hours, with 10 orbits. First manned lunar orbital mission. Support facilities tested. Photographs taken of Earth and Moon. Live TV broadcasts. Apollo 9 (Gumdrop and Spider) Saturn V March 03-13, 1969 James A. McDivitt David R. Scott Russell L. Schweickart 10 days, 01 hour First manned flight of all lunar hardware in Earth orbit. Schweickark performed 37 minutes EVA. Human reactions to space and weightlessness tested in 152 orbits. First manned flight of lunar module. Apollo 10 (Charlie Brown and Snoopy) Saturn V May 18-26, 1969 Eugene A. Cernan John W. Young Thomas P. Stafford 08 days, 03 minutes Dress rehearsal for Moon landing. First manned CSM/LM operations in cislunar and lunar environ- ment; simulation of first lunar landing profile. In lunar orbit 61.6 hours, with 31 orbits. LM taken to within 15,243 m (50,000 ft) of lunar surface. First live color TV from space. LM ascent stage jettisoned in orbit. Apollo 11 (Columbia and Eagle) Saturn V July 16-24, 1969 Neil A. Armstrong Michael Collins Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. 08 days, 03 hours, 18 minutes First manned lunar landing mission and lunar surface EVA. "HOUSTON, TRANQUILITY BASE HERE. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED."--July 20, Sea of Tranquility. 1 EVA of 02 hours, 31 minutes. Flag and in- struments deployed; unveiled plaque on the LM descent stage with inscription: "Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We Came In Peace For All Mankind." Lunar surface stay time 21.6 hours; 59.5 hours in lunar orbit, with 30 orbits. LM ascent stage left in lunar orbit. 20kg (44 lbs) of material gathered. Apollo 12 (Yankee Clipper and Intrepid) Saturn V November 14-24, 1969 Charles Conrad, Jr. Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Alan L. Bean 10 days, 04 hours, 36 minutes Landing site: Ocean of Storms. Retrieved parts of the unmanned Surveyor 3, which had landed on the Moon in April 1967. Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) deployed. Lunar surface stay-time, 31.5 hours; in lunar orbit 89 hours, with 45 orbits. LM descent stage impacted on Moon. 34kg (75 lbs) of material gathered. Apollo 13 (Odyssey and Aquarius) Saturn V April 11-17, 1970 James A. Lovell, Jr. John L. Swigert, Jr. Fred W. Haise, Jr. 05 days, 22.9 hours Third lunar landing attempt. Mission aborted after rupture of service module oxygen tank. Classed as "successful failure" because of experience in rescuing crew. Spent upper stage successfully impacted on the Moon. Apollo 14 (Kitty Hawk and Antares) Saturn V January 31-Febraury 09, 1971 Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Stuart A. Roosa Edgar D. Mitchell 09 days Landing site: Fra Mauro. ALSEP and other instruments deployed. Lunar surface stay-time, 33.5 hours; 67 hours in lunar orbit, with 34 orbits. 2 EVAs of 09 hours, 25 minutes. Third stage impacted on Moon. 42 kg (94 lbs) of materials gathered, using hand cart for first time to transport rocks. Apollo 15 (Endeavor and Falcon) Saturn V July 26-August 07, 1971 David R. Scott James B. Irwin Alfred M. Worden 12 days, 17 hours, 12 minutes Landing site: Hadley-Apennine region near Apennine Mountains. 3 EVAs of 10 hours, 36 minutes. Worden performed 38 minutes EVA on way back to Earth. First to carry orbital sensors in service module of CSM. ALSEP de- ployed. Scientific payload landed on Moon doubled. Improved spacesuits gave increased mobility and stay-time. Lunar surface stay- time, 66.9 hours. Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), electric-powered, 4-wheel drive car, traversed total 27.9 km (17 mi). In lunar orbit 145 hours, with 74 orbits. Small sub-satellite left in lunar orbit for first time. 6.6 kgs (169 lbs) of material gathered. Apollo 16 (Casper and Orion) Saturn V April 16-27, 1972 John W. Young Thomas K. Mattingly II Charles M. Duke, Jr. 11 days, 01 hour, 51 minutes Landing site: Descartes Highlands. First study of highlands area. Selected surface experiments deployed, ultraviolet camera/spectrograph used for first time on Moon, and LRV used for second time. Lunar surface stay-time, 71 hours; in lunar orbit 126 hours, with 64 orbits. Mattingly performed 01 hour in-flight EVA. 95.8 kg (213 lbs) of lunar samples collected. Apollo 17 (America and Challenger) Saturn V December 07-19, 1972 Eugene A. Cernan Ronald B. Evans Harrison H. Schmitt 12 days, 13 hours, 52 minutes Last lunar landing mission. Landing site: Taurus-Littrow, highlands and valley area. 3 EVAs of 22 hours, 04 minutes. Evans performed trans-Earth EVA lasting 01 hour 06 minutes. First scientist-astronaut to land on Moon, Schmitt. Sixth automated research station set up. LRV traverse total 30.5 km. Lunar surface stay-time, 75 hours. In lunar orbit 17 hours. 110.4 kg (243 lbs) of material gathered.