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Home > Project Apollo

For other meanings, see Apollo (disambiguation).

Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America using the Apollo spacecraft, conducted during the years 1961- 1972. It was devoted to the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth within the decade of the 1960s. This goal was achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The program continued into the early 1970s to carry out the initial hands-on scientific exploration of the Moon. As of 2004, there has never been any other human spaceflight beyond low earth orbit.

1 Background

The Apollo Program was the second United States human spaceflight program, though its flights followed both the first such program ( Mercury) and the third ( Gemini). Apollo was originally conceived late in the Eisenhower administration as a follow-on to Mercury for advanced manned earth-orbital missions. It was dramatically reoriented to an aggressive lunar landing goal by President KennedyJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy ( May 29, 1917 November 22, 1963), often referred to as Jack Kennedy or JFK was the 35th ( 1961 1963) President of the United States. He was the youngest ever to be elected president and the youngest president ever to die in office with his announcement at a special joint session of Congress on May 25May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). There are 220 days remaining. Events 1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors. 1420 Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Ch, 1961:

"...I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..." (Excerpt from "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs" [1])

2 Choosing a mission mode

Having settled upon the Moon as a target, the Apollo mission planners were faced with the challenge of designing a flight plan attaining Kennedy's stated goal while minimizing risk to human life, cost and demands on technology and astronaut skill.

Three possible plans were considered.

• Direct ascent: The first was to boost a spaceship directly to the moon. This would have required a Nova rocketThe Nova rocket was a rocket proposed as a successor to the Saturn V, intended for missions to the Moon and Mars. From the late 1950s through the early 1980s, "Nova" was a generic name generally meaning a rocket larger than the Saturn V. The name "Nova" w far more powerful than any in existence at the time. The entire spacecraft would land on and return from the moon.

• Earth orbit rendezvous: The second, known as Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), would have required the launch of two Saturn V rockets, one containing the space ship and one containing fuel. The spaceship would have docked in earth orbit and be fueled with enough fuel to make it to the moon and back. The entire spacecraft would have landed on the moon in this case as well.

• Lunar orbit rendezvous: The plan which was actually adopted is credited to John Houbolt and used the technique of 'Lunar Orbit Rendezvous' (LOR). The spacecraft was modular, composed of a ' Command/Service ModuleThe Command/Service Module ( CSM) was a spacecraft built for NASA by North American Aviation. It was one of the two spacecraft that were utilized for the Apollo program along with the Lunar Module to land astronauts on the Moon. Together they were called' (CSM) and a ' Lunar ModuleThe Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program to achieve the transit from Moon orbit to the surface and back. The module was also known as the LM from the manufacturer designation (yet pronounced "' (LM; pronounced LEM, for Lunar Excursion Module, its initial name). The CSM contained the life support systems for the three man crew's five day round trip to the moon and the heat shieldIn aeronautics, a heat shield is a protective layer on a spacecraft or ballistic missile that is designed to protect it from high temperatures, usually those that result from aerobraking during entry into a planet's atmosphere. It is also a design conside for their reentry to Earth's atmosphereEarth's atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It consists of nitrogen (78. 1% by volume) and oxygen (20. 9%), with small amounts of argon (0. 9%), carbon dioxide (variable, but around 0. 035%),. The LM would separate from the CSM in lunar orbit and carry two astronauts for the descent to the lunar surface.

The Lunar Module itself was composed of a descent stage and an ascent stage, the former serving as a launch platform for the latter when the lunar exploration party blasted off for lunar orbit where they would dock with the CSM prior to returning to Earth. The plan had the advantage that since the LM was to be discarded, it could be made very light and allow for the moon mission to be launched with a single Saturn V rocket. However, at the time that LOR was decided, some mission planners were uneasy at the large numbers of dockings and undockings needed to make the plan succeed.

To learn lunar landing techniques, astronauts practiced in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle ( LLRV), a flying vehicle that simulated the Lunar Module on earth.

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ApolloApollo ( Greek: , Apollon is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). In later times he became in part confused or equated with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister similarly equated wi Apollo 11The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned lunar landing. It was the fifth manned mission in the Apollo program. That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. Neil Armstrong Crew Neil Armstrong (2), commander (and first to walk on the moo Apollo 8Apollo 8 was a manned mission of the Apollo space program. Apollo 8 was the first mission that carried humans beyond Earth orbit, and the first time anyone was closer to another celestial body than they were to Earth. Crew Frank Borman (2), commander Jame Apollo 13This article is about the Moon mission. There is also a ''movie by the name of Apollo 13''. Apollo 13 was an American space mission, part of the Apollo program. It was intended to be the third mission to land on the Moon, but instead is famous for the cri Apollo 7Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. It was an eleven-day earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-man American space mission. Crew Walter Schirra (3), comma Apollo 9Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program. Ten-day earth-orbital mission launched March 3, 1969. Second manned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle. First manned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM). Crew James McDivitt (2), commander Apollo 1 Apollo 10 Apollo 12 Apollo 14 Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17 Apollos Apollo asteroid