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Missions and Programs

Apollo Program

Also Known As Project Apollo

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Staged Launch Vehicle

NASA's program to land humans on the Moon and return them safely to Earth, fulfilling President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal. It succeeded with Apollo 11 in 1969 and carried out six crewed lunar landings in total between 1969 and 1972.

Facts
Mission Type
Crewed lunar landing program 1
Launch Date
1961-05-25 2
Date of Kennedy's speech committing the nation to the goal; the first crewed Apollo flight, Apollo 7, launched in 1968.
End Date
1972-12-19 2
Splashdown of Apollo 17, the last crewed lunar mission.
Outcome
Successful; six crewed lunar landings (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17), with Apollo 13's landing aborted after an in-flight explosion but its crew returned safely. 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

George Mueller, Pioneers

Introduced all-up testing for the Saturn V used throughout Project Apollo.

Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Jim Lovell, Astronauts and Cosmonauts
Source A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo AstronautsAndrew Chaikin
John Houbolt, Pioneers
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Margaret Hamilton, Pioneers

Led development of the Apollo Guidance Computer's flight software.

Source A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo AstronautsAndrew Chaikin
Yuri Kondratyuk, Pioneers

His lunar orbit rendezvous concept, published decades earlier, was the mission mode NASA engineers ultimately adopted for the Apollo Moon landings.

Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)

Crewed By

Gene Cernan, Astronauts and Cosmonauts
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)

Operated By

NASA, Space Agencies and Companies
Source NASA History Office
Sources
1. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
Andrew Chaikin
2. NASA History Office
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA, The Apollo Program (nasa.gov/the-apollo-program)
Quote, NASA, The Apollo Program (nasa.gov/the-apollo-program)
Project Apollo's goals went beyond landing Americans on the moon and returning them safely to Earth.
2. NASA History Office
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOperated By: NASA
Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationApollo program, lead section
Quote, Apollo program, lead section
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.
Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: John Houbolt, John Houbolt, lead section
Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationCrewed By: Gene Cernan, Gene Cernan, lead paragraph section
Quote, Crewed By: Gene Cernan, Gene Cernan, lead paragraph section
commanded Apollo 17
Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Yuri Kondratyuk, Yuri Kondratyuk (Wikipedia) - Apollo adoption
Quote, Associated With: Yuri Kondratyuk, Yuri Kondratyuk (Wikipedia) - Apollo adoption
the strategy eventually adopted by the engineers of the Apollo program
Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: George Mueller, George Mueller (NASA), NASA and the Apollo program section
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