Apollo Mission Facts (Apollo Program, Earth Orbit) @ LaunchBase.net

The Apollo program was a human spaceflight A human spaceflight is a spaceflight with a human crew, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike robotic space probes or remotely-controlled satellites. Human spaceflight is sometimes called manned spaceflight, a term now deprecated by major space agencies in favor of its gender-neutral alternative program undertaken by NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established on July 29, 1958, by the National Aeronautics and Space Act during the years 1961–1975 with the goal of conducting manned moon landing A moon landing is the arrival of an intact manned or unmanned spacecraft on the surface of a planet's natural satellite. The concept has been a goal of humankind since it was first appreciated that the Moon is Earth's closest large celestial body. One of the clearest early examples of the concept in fiction was Jules Verne's novel From the Earth missions. US President John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 announced this goal in 1961, and it was accomplished on July 20, 1969 by Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong is a former American astronaut, test pilot, university professor, and United States Naval Aviator. He is the first person to set foot on the Moon. His first spaceflight was aboard Gemini 8 in 1966, for which he was the command pilot. On this mission, he performed the first manned docking of two spacecraft together with pilot, and Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin is an American aviator and astronaut, who was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. He was the second person to set foot on the Moon, after Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, with Michael Collins Major General Michael Collins is a former American astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, when he and command pilot John W. Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins undertook two EVAs. His second in Moon orbit during the Apollo 11 The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. It was also the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and mission. Five other Apollo missions also landed astronauts An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft on the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System, the last one in 1972. These six Apollo spaceflights are the only times humans have landed on another celestial body Astronomical objects are significant physical entities, associations or structures which current science has confirmed to exist in space. This does not necessarily mean that more current science will not disprove their existence. Some astronomical objects, such as Themis and Neith are, in light of more recent findings, considered not to exist at.[1] The Apollo program, specifically the lunar landings A moon landing is the arrival of an intact manned or unmanned spacecraft on the surface of a planet's natural satellite. The concept has been a goal of humankind since it was first appreciated that the Moon is Earth's closest large celestial body. One of the clearest early examples of the concept in fiction was Jules Verne's novel From the Earth, is often cited as the greatest achievement in human history.[2][3]

Apollo was the third human spaceflight program undertaken by NASA, the space agency This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration of the United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the. It used Apollo spacecraft The Apollo spacecraft was designed as part of the Apollo Program, by the United States in the early 1960s to land men on the moon before 1970 and return them safely to earth. This goal was set forth by President Kennedy after the first flight of the Mercury Space Program. The spacecraft was made up of multiple units or stages that worked together and Saturn launch vehicles, which were later used for the Skylab program Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit, and the second space station ever visited by a human crew. The 100 ton space station was in Earth's orbit from 1973 to 1979, and it was visited by crews three times in 1973 and 1974. It included a laboratory for studying the effects of microgravity and the Apollo Telescope and the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the U.S. and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975. For the United States of America, it was the last Apollo flight, as well as the last manned space launch until the flight of the first Space Shuttle in April 1981. These later programs are thus often considered to be part of the overall Apollo program.

The goal of the program, as articulated by President The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by influence and recognition. The President leads the executive branch of the federal government; his or her role is to enforce national law as given in the Constitution and written by Congress Kennedy, was accomplished with only two major failures. The first failure resulted in the deaths of three astronauts, Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan Grissom, more widely known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot. He was the second American to fly in space. Grissom was killed along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee during a training exercise and pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at the, Ed White Edward Higgins White, II (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force officer and a NASA astronaut. On June 3, 1965, he became the first American to conduct a spacewalk. White was killed during the Apollo 1 training accident and posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and was previously awarded the and Roger Chaffee Roger Bruce Chaffee was a U.S. Navy pilot who became an American astronaut in the Apollo program, in the Apollo 1 Apollo 1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flown Apollo/Saturn 204 mission. Its command module (CM-012) was destroyed by fire during a test and training exercise on January 27, 1967 at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, then known as Cape Kennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. The crew aboard were the astronauts selected launchpad fire. The second was an in-space explosion on Apollo 13 Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W. Haise. It launched on April 11, 1970 at 13:13 CST. Two days after the launch, the Apollo spacecraft was, which badly damaged the spacecraft on the moonward leg of its journey. The three astronauts aboard narrowly escaped with their lives, thanks to the efforts of flight controllers, project engineers, backup crew members and the skills of the astronauts themselves.

The program set major milestones in the history of human spaceflight. This program stands alone in sending manned missions beyond low Earth orbit A Low Earth Orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 160 - 2000 km (100 - 1240 miles) above the Earth's surface. Apollo 8 Apollo 8 was the first manned voyage to a celestial body. Its three-man crew of Mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon. The mission also involved the first manned launch of a Saturn V rocket, and was the second manned mission was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while Apollo 17 Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. It was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program. The mission was launched on December 7, 1972, and concluded on December 19. As of 2008, it remains the most recent manned Moon landing marks the time of the last moonwalk and also the last manned mission beyond low Earth orbit A Low Earth Orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 160 - 2000 km (100 - 1240 miles) above the Earth's surface.

The program spurred advances in many areas of technology peripheral to rocketry and manned spaceflight. These include major contributions in the fields of avionics Avionics means "aviation electronics". It comprises electronic systems for use on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft, comprising communications, navigation and the display and management of multiple systems. It also includes the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles, these can be as simple, telecommunications Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags, Morse Code, or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic transmitters such as the telephone, television,, and computers A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. The program sparked interest in many fields of engineering Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical and scientific knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria. The American Engineers' Council for, including pioneering work using statistical Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data. Also with prediction and forecasting based on data. It is applicable to a wide variety of academic disciplines, from the natural and social sciences to the humanities, government and business methods to study the reliability Mean time between failures is the mean (average) time between failures of a system, and is often attributed to the "useful life" of the device i.e. not including 'infant mortality' or 'end of life' if the device is not repairable. Calculations of MTBF assume that a system is "renewed", i.e. fixed, after each failure, and then of complex systems made from component parts. The physical facilities and machines which were necessary components of the manned spaceflight program remain as landmarks of civil Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings. Civil engineering is the oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it was defined to distinguish, mechanical Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines, and electrical engineering Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and. Many objects and artifacts from the program are on display at various locations throughout the world, notably at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museums The National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It is also a vital center for research into the history, science, and technology of aviation and spaceflight, as.

Contents

Background

Main article: Space race The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the Soviet Union and the United States, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975. It involved the efforts to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land them on the Moon

The Apollo program was originally conceived early in 1960, during the Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the thirty-fourth President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general in the United States Army. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and administration, as a follow-up to America's Mercury program Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a man in orbit around the Earth. The Mercury-Atlas 6 flight on 20 February 1962 was the first Mercury flight to achieve this goal. Early planning and research was carried out by the National Advisory Committee for. While the Mercury capsule could only support one astronaut on a limited earth orbital mission, the Apollo spacecraft was intended to be able to carry three astronauts on a circumlunar flight and perhaps even on a lunar landing. The program was named after the Greek god of light and archery In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, by NASA manager Abe Silverstein, who later said that "I was naming the spacecraft like I'd name my baby."[4] While NASA went ahead with planning for Apollo, funding for the program was far from certain, particularly given Eisenhower's equivocal attitude to manned spaceflight.[5] In November 1960, John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 was elected President after a campaign that promised American superiority over the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 in the fields of space exploration and missile defense. Using space exploration as a symbol of national prestige, he warned of a "missile gap" between the two nations, pledging to make the U.S. not "first but, first and, first if, but first period."[6] Despite Kennedy's rhetoric, he did not immediately come to a decision on the status of the Apollo program once he was elected President. He knew little about the technical details of the space program, and was put off by the massive financial commitment required by a manned moon landing.[7] When NASA Administrator James Webb requested a thirty percent budget increase for his agency, Kennedy supported an acceleration of NASA's large booster program but deferred a decision on the broader issue.[8]

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin , Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in space and the first to orbit the Earth. He received medals from around the world for his pioneering tour in outer space became the first man to fly in space, reinforcing American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union. At a meeting of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics held only one day after Gagarin's flight, many congressmen pledged their support for a crash program aimed at ensuring that America would catch up.[9] Kennedy, however, was circumspect in his response to the news, refusing to make a commitment on America's response to the Soviets.[10] On April 20 Kennedy sent a memo to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the thirty-sixth President of the United States (1963-1969) and thirty-seventh Vice President of the United States (1961-1963), asking Johnson to look into the status of America's space program, and into programs that could offer NASA the opportunity to catch up.[11] Johnson responded on the following day, concluding that "we are neither making maximum effort nor achieving results necessary if this country is to reach a position of leadership."[12] His memo concluded that a manned moon landing was far enough in the future to make it possible that the United States could achieve it first.[12]

The Decision to Go to the Moon: President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 speech before a Joint Session of Congress

On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:

“ First, 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.

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963[13]

 ”

At the time of Kennedy's speech, only one American had flown in space — less than a month earlier — and NASA had not yet sent a man into orbit. Even some NASA employees doubted whether Kennedy's ambitious goal could be met.[14]

Answering President Kennedy's challenge and landing men on the moon by the end of 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($25 billion), ever made by any nation in peacetime. At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.[15]

President John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 delivers a speech at Rice University William Marsh Rice University is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas, United States, near the Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is noted for its strength in the applied sciences and its elite undergraduate division. The university has been a pioneer in the fields of nanotechnology, on the subject of the American space program, September 12, 1962.
“ We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963[16]

 ”

Choosing a mission mode

See also: Moon landing A moon landing is the arrival of an intact manned or unmanned spacecraft on the surface of a planet's natural satellite. The concept has been a goal of humankind since it was first appreciated that the Moon is Earth's closest large celestial body. One of the clearest early examples of the concept in fiction was Jules Verne's novel From the Earth

Once Kennedy had defined a goal, the Apollo mission planners were faced with the challenge of designing a set of flights that could meet this stated goal while minimizing risk to human life, cost, and demands on technology and astronaut skill. Four possible mission modes were considered:

Early Apollo configuration for Direct Ascent and Earth Orbit Rendezvous - 1961 (NASA)

In early 1961, direct ascent was generally the mission mode in favor at NASA. Many engineers feared that a rendezvous -- let alone a docking -- neither of which had been attempted even in Earth orbit A geocentric orbit is an orbit of any object orbiting the Earth, such as the Moon or artificial satellites. Currently there are approximately 2465 artificial satellites orbiting the Earth and 6216 pieces of space debris as tracked by the Goddard Space Flight Center. Over 16,291 previously launched objects have decayed into the Earth's atmosphere, would be extremely difficult in lunar orbit In astronomy, lunar orbit refers to the orbit of an object around the Moon. However, dissenters including John Houbolt at Langley Research Center Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base. LaRC focuses primarily on aeronautical research, though the Lunar Lander was flight-tested at this facility and a number of high profile space missions are planned and emphasized the important weight reductions that were offered by the LOR approach. Throughout 1960 and 1961, Houbolt campaigned for the recognition of LOR as a valid and practical option. Bypassing the NASA hierarchy, he sent a series of memos and reports on the issue to Associate Administrator Robert Seamans; while acknowledging that he spoke "somewhat as a voice in the wilderness," Houbolt pleaded that LOR should not be discounted in studies of the question.[17]

Seamans' establishment of the Golovin committee in July 1961 represented a turning point in NASA's mission mode decision.[18] While the ad-hoc committee was intended to provide a recommendation on the boosters to be used in the Apollo program, it recognized that the mode decision was an important part of this question. The committee recommended in favor of a hybrid EOR-LOR mode, but its consideration of LOR — as well as Houbolt's ceaseless work — played an important role in publicizing the workability of the approach. In late 1961 and early 1962, members of NASA's Space Task Group The Space Task Group was a working group of engineers based at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Created in 1958, the group was part of NASA and was tasked with superintending America's manned spaceflight program at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston began to come around to support for LOR.[18] The engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center , the original home of NASA, is a lead center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, Shuttle external fuel tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station (ISS) design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management. Located on the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, took longer to become convinced of its merits, but their conversion was announced by Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun , a German rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, became one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. Wernher von Braun is sometimes said to be the preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th century at a briefing in June 1962. NASA's formal decision in favor of LOR was announced on July 11, 1962. Space historian James Hansen concludes that:

“ Without NASA's adoption of this stubbornly held minority opinion in 1962, the United States may still have reached the Moon, but almost certainly it would not have been accomplished by the end of the 1960s, President Kennedy's target date.[19] ”

Spacecraft

Main article: Apollo spacecraft The Apollo spacecraft was designed as part of the Apollo Program, by the United States in the early 1960s to land men on the moon before 1970 and return them safely to earth. This goal was set forth by President Kennedy after the first flight of the Mercury Space Program. The spacecraft was made up of multiple units or stages that worked together

The decision in favor of lunar orbit rendezvous dictated the basic design of the Apollo spacecraft The Apollo spacecraft was designed as part of the Apollo Program, by the United States in the early 1960s to land men on the moon before 1970 and return them safely to earth. This goal was set forth by President Kennedy after the first flight of the Mercury Space Program. The spacecraft was made up of multiple units or stages that worked together. It would consist of two main sections: the Command/Service Module The Command/Service Module 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 the Apollo spacecraft. After the conclusion of the Apollo program, the CSM saw service as a ferry (CSM), in which the crew would spend most of the mission, and the Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back. The module was also known as the LM from the manufacturer designation (LM), which would descend to and return from the lunar surface.

Command/service module

Apollo CSM in lunar orbit.

The command module The Command/Service Module 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 the Apollo spacecraft. After the conclusion of the Apollo program, the CSM saw service as a ferry (CM) was conical in shape, and was designed to carry three astronauts from launch into lunar orbit and back from the moon to splashdown. Equipment carried by the command module included reaction control engines A thruster is a small propulsive device used by spacecraft and watercraft for station keeping, attitude control, or long duration low thrust acceleration, a docking tunnel, guidance and navigation systems and the Apollo Guidance Computer The Apollo Guidance Computer was the first recognizably modern embedded system, used in real-time by astronaut pilots to collect and provide flight information, and to automatically control all of the navigational functions of the Apollo spacecraft. It was developed in the early 1960s for the Apollo program by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. Attached to the command module was the service module The Command/Service Module 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 the Apollo spacecraft. After the conclusion of the Apollo program, the CSM saw service as a ferry (SM), which housed the service propulsion system and its propellants, the fuel cell power system, four maneuvering thruster quads, the S-band antenna for communication with Mission Control, and storage tanks for water and air. On Apollo 15, 16 and 17 it also carried a scientific instrument package. The two sections of the spacecraft would remain attached until just prior to re-entry, at which point the service module would be discarded. Only the command module was provided with a heat shield that would allow it and its passengers to survive the intense heat of re-entry. After re-entry it would deploy parachutes that would slow its descent through the atmosphere, allowing a smooth splashdown in the ocean.

Under the leadership of Harrison Storms, North American Aviation North American Aviation was a major US aircraft manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, and the X-15 rocket plane, as well as Apollo Command and Service Module, the second stage of the Saturn V rocket, the Space won the contract to build the CSM for NASA. Relations between North American and NASA were strained during the Apollo program, particularly after the Apollo 1 Apollo 1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flown Apollo/Saturn 204 mission. Its command module (CM-012) was destroyed by fire during a test and training exercise on January 27, 1967 at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, then known as Cape Kennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. The crew aboard were the astronauts selected fire during which three astronauts died. The cause of the accident was determined to be an electrical short in the wiring of the command module; while determination of responsibility for the accident was complex, the review board concluded that "deficiencies existed in Command Module design, workmanship and quality control."[20]

Lunar module

Apollo LM on lunar surface.

The Lunar Module (LM) The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back. The module was also known as the LM from the manufacturer designation (also known as Lunar Excursion Module, or LEM), was designed solely to land Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing" and "touchdown" as well. A normal aircraft flight would include several parts of flight including taxi, on the moon, and to ascend from the lunar surface to the command module. It had a limited heat shield and was of a construction so lightweight that it would not have been able to fly in Earth gravity. It carried two crewmembers and consisted of two stages, a descent and an ascent stage. The descent stage incorporated compartments in which cargo such as the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package and Lunar Rover The Lunar Roving Vehicle or lunar rover was a type of surface exploration rover used on the Moon during the Apollo program. It is also known by its popular nickname of moon buggy. Three of the Apollo missions took LRVs to the Moon could be carried.

The contract for design and construction of the lunar module was awarded to Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U.S. producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman with Jake Swirbul and William Schwendler, its independent existence ended in 1994 when it was acquired by Northrop Corporation to form Northrop, and the project was overseen by Tom Kelly. There were also problems with the lunar module; due to delays in the test program, the LM became what was known as a "pacing item," meaning that it was in danger of delaying the schedule of the whole Apollo program.[21] Due to these issues, the Apollo missions were rescheduled so that the first manned mission with the lunar module would be Apollo 9 Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module along with the Lunar Module (LM) . Its three-person crew of Mission Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot Dave Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart tested several aspects critical to landing on the moon including the LM engines, backpack life support systems,, rather than Apollo 8 Apollo 8 was the first manned voyage to a celestial body. Its three-man crew of Mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon. The mission also involved the first manned launch of a Saturn V rocket, and was the second manned mission as was originally planned.

Boosters

When the team of engineers led by Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun , a German rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, became one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. Wernher von Braun is sometimes said to be the preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th century began planning for the Apollo program, it was not yet clear what sort of mission their rocket boosters would have to support. Direct ascent would require a booster, the planned Nova rocket Nova was a series of proposed rocket designs, originally as NASA's first large launchers for missions similar to the Saturn V that entered production, and later as larger follow-ons to the Saturn V intended for missions to Mars. The two series of designs were essentially separate, but shared their name. Thus, "Nova" does not refer to a, which could lift a very large payload. NASA's decision in favor of lunar orbit rendezvous re-oriented the work of Marshall Spaceflight Center towards the development of the Saturn 1B and Saturn V The Saturn V was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. In total NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets with no loss of payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a height, weight and payload standpoint. The Soviet. While these were less powerful than the Nova would have been, the Saturn V was still much more powerful than any booster developed before—or since.

Saturn V

Main article: Saturn V The Saturn V was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. In total NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets with no loss of payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a height, weight and payload standpoint. The Soviet
The Saturn V The Saturn V was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. In total NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets with no loss of payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a height, weight and payload standpoint. The Soviet rocket launched Apollo 11 The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. It was also the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and and her crew on its journey to the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System, July 16, 1969. Saturn V diagram from the Apollo 6 press kit

The Saturn V consisted of three stages and an Instrument Unit which contained the booster's guidance system. The first stage, the S-IC, consisted of five F-1 engines arranged in a cross pattern, which produced a total of 7.5 million pounds of thrust. They burned for only 2.5 minutes, accelerating the spacecraft to a speed of approximately 6000 miles per hour (2.68 km/s).[22] During development, the F-1 engines were plagued by combustion instability—if the combustion of propellants was not uniform across the flame front of an engine, pressure waves could build which would cause the engine to destroy itself. The problem was solved in the end through trial and error, fine-tuning the engines through numerous tests so that even small charges set off inside the engine would not induce instability.[23]

The second stage, the S-II, used five J-2 engines. They burned for approximately six minutes, taking the spacecraft to a speed of 15,300 miles per hour (6.84 km/s) and an altitude of about 115 miles (185 km).[24] At this point the S-IVB third stage took over, putting the spacecraft into orbit. Its one J-2 engine was designed to be restarted in order to make the translunar injection burn.[25]

Saturn IB

Main article: Saturn IB The Saturn IB was an uprated version of the Saturn I, which featured a much more powerful second stage, the S-IVB. Unlike the earlier Saturn I, the IB had enough throw weight to launch the Apollo Command/Service Module or Lunar Module into Earth orbit, which made it invaluable for testing the Apollo spacecraft while the larger Saturn V needed to

The Saturn IB The Saturn IB was an uprated version of the Saturn I, which featured a much more powerful second stage, the S-IVB. Unlike the earlier Saturn I, the IB had enough throw weight to launch the Apollo Command/Service Module or Lunar Module into Earth orbit, which made it invaluable for testing the Apollo spacecraft while the larger Saturn V needed to was an upgraded version of the earlier Saturn I The Saturn I was the United States' first dedicated "space launcher," a rocket designed specifically to launch loads into Earth orbit. Most of the rocket's power came from a "clustered" lower stage consisting of tanking taken from older rocket designs and strapped together to make a single larger booster. Critics joked that it. It consisted of a first stage made up of eight H-1 engines and a second S-IVB stage which was identical to the Saturn V's third stage. The Saturn IB had only 1.6 million pounds of thrust in its first stage—compared to 7.5 million pounds for the Saturn V—but was capable of putting a command and lunar module into earth orbit.[26] It was used in Apollo test missions and in both the Skylab program and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program. In 1973 a refitted S-IVB stage, launched by a Saturn V, became the Skylab Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit, and the second space station ever visited by a human crew. The 100 ton space station was in Earth's orbit from 1973 to 1979, and it was visited by crews three times in 1973 and 1974. It included a laboratory for studying the effects of microgravity and the Apollo Telescope space station.

Missions

See also: List of Apollo missions The Apollo missions were a series of space missions, both manned and unmanned, flown by NASA between 1961 and 1975. They culminated with a series of manned moon landings between 1969 and 1972

Mission types

In September 1967, the Manned Spacecraft Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres (656 ha) located in southeast Houston, Texas. Johnson Space Center is home to the United States astronaut corps and is responsible for in Houston, Texas Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km²). Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, proposed a series of missions that would lead up to a manned lunar landing. Seven mission types were outlined, each testing a specific set of components and tasks; each previous step needed to be completed successfully before the next mission type could be undertaken. These were:

Later added to this were H missions, which were short duration stays on the Moon with two LEVAs ("moonwalks"). These were followed by the J missions, which were longer three day stays, with three LEVAs and the use of the lunar rover The Lunar Roving Vehicle or lunar rover was a type of surface exploration rover used on the Moon during the Apollo program. It is also known by its popular nickname of moon buggy. Three of the Apollo missions took LRVs to the Moon. Apollo 18 to 20 would have been J missions. In addition, a further group of flights — the I missions — were planned, which would have been long duration orbital missions using a Service Module bay loaded with scientific equipment. When it became obvious that later flights were being cancelled, such mission plans were brought into the J missions that were actually flown.

Unmanned missions

Preparations for the Apollo program began long before the manned Apollo missions were flown. Test flights of the Saturn I The Saturn I was the United States' first dedicated "space launcher," a rocket designed specifically to launch loads into Earth orbit. Most of the rocket's power came from a "clustered" lower stage consisting of tanking taken from older rocket designs and strapped together to make a single larger booster. Critics joked that it booster began in October 1961 and lasted until September 1964. Three further Saturn I launches carried boilerplate models of the Apollo command/service module. Two pad abort tests A pad abort test is a test of a launch escape system to determine how well the system could get the crew of a spacecraft to safety in an emergency on the launch pad of the launch escape system A Launch Escape System is a top-mounted rocket connected to the crew module of a crewed spacecraft and used to quickly separate the crew module from the rest of the rocket in case of emergency. Since the escape rockets are above the crew module, an LES typically uses separate nozzles which are angled away from the crew module to prevent the LES took place in 1963 and 1965 at the White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost 3,200 sq mi (8,300 km2) area, the largest military installation in the United States. WSMR includes the Oscura Range and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range. WSMR and the 600,000-acre Fort Bliss Range Complex' to the south form a contiguous swath of territory.

The only unmanned missions to officially include Apollo as part of their name rather than serial number were Apollo 4, Apollo 5 and Apollo 6.[27] Apollo 4 was the first test flight of the Saturn V booster. Launched on November 9, 1967, Apollo 4 exemplified George Mueller's strategy of "all up" testing. Rather than being tested stage by stage, as most rockets were, the Saturn V would be flown for the first time as one unit. The mission was a highly successful one. Walter Cronkite covered the launch from a broadcast booth about 4 miles (6 km) from the launch site. The extreme noise and vibrations from the launch nearly shook the broadcast booth apart- ceiling tiles fell and windows shook. At one point, Cronkite was forced to dampen the booth's plate glass window to prevent it from shattering.[28] This launch showed that additional protective measures were necessary to protect structures in the immediate vicinity. Future launches used a damping mechanism directly at the launchpad which proved effective in limiting the generated noise.

Apollo 6 was the last in the series of unmanned Apollo missions. It launched on April 4, 1968, and landed back on Earth almost ten hours later at 21:57:21 UTC.

Manned missions

On each manned mission there were three astronauts: a commander, a command module pilot (CMP), and a lunar module pilot (LMP). In the case of a moon landing the commander and the LMP descended to the Moon, while the CMP kept orbiting it.

Apollo 7, launched on October 11, 1968 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission intended to test the redesigned command module. It was the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-man American space mission.

By the summer of 1968 it became clear to program managers that a fully functional LM would not be available for the Apollo 8 mission. Rather than perform a simple earth orbiting mission, they chose to send Apollo 8 around the moon during Christmas. The original idea for this switch was the brainchild of George Low. Although it has often been claimed that this change was made as a direct response to Soviet attempts to fly a piloted Zond spacecraft around the moon, there is no evidence that this was actually the case. NASA officials were aware of the Soviet Zond flights, but the timing of the Zond missions does not correspond well with the extensive written record from NASA about the Apollo 8 decision. It is relatively certain that the Apollo 8 decision was primarily based upon the LM schedule, rather than fear of the Soviets beating the Americans to the moon.

Between December 21, 1968 and May 18, 1969, NASA launched three Apollo missions (8, 9, and 10) using the Saturn V launch vehicle. Each mission had a crew of three astronauts, and the last two included Lunar Modules, but none of these were intended as Moon landing missions.

A mounted camera captures Neil Armstrong as he becomes the first human to step on the moon. This image shows Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin with the U.S. flag. The illusion of a breeze was caused by the horizontal rod intended to hold the flag flat failing to telescope out completely, thus leaving ripples in the fabric like those seen in a flag in the wind.
“ That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. ”

—Neil Armstrong[29]

The next two flights (11 and 12) included successful Moon landings. The Apollo 13 mission was aborted before the landing attempt, but the crew returned safely to Earth. The four subsequent Apollo missions (14 through 17) included successful Moon landings. The last three of these were J-class missions that included the use of Lunar Rovers. It appears that much of the original film and telemetry data for the Apollo 11 mission is missing. For more information see Apollo program missing tapes.

On the last of the Apollo missions, the crew of Apollo 17 left this plaque as was done on all the previous landings.

Apollo 17 launched December 7, 1972 and was the last Apollo mission to the moon. Mission commander Eugene Cernan was the last person to leave the Moon's surface. The crew returned safely to Earth on December 19, 1972.

Apollo applications program

Main article: Apollo Applications Program

Following the success of the Apollo program, both NASA and its major contractors investigated several post-lunar applications for the Apollo hardware. The "Apollo Extension Series", later called the "Apollo Applications Program", proposed up to thirty flights to earth orbit. Many of these would use the space that the lunar module took up in the Saturn rocket to carry scientific equipment.

Of all the plans, only two were implemented: the Skylab space station (May 1973 – February 1974), and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (July 1975). Skylab's fuselage was constructed from the second stage of a Saturn IB, and the station was equipped with the Apollo Telescope Mount, itself based on a lunar module. The station's three crews were ferried into orbit atop Saturn IBs, riding in CSMs; the station itself had been launched with a modified Saturn V. Skylab's last crew departed the station on February 8, 1974, whilst the station itself returned prematurely to Earth in 1979, by which time it had become the oldest operational Apollo component.

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project involved a docking in Earth orbit between a CSM and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The mission lasted from July 15 to July 24, 1975. Although the Soviet Union continued to operate the Soyuz and Salyut space vehicles, NASA's next manned mission would not be until STS-1 on April 12, 1981.

Samples returned

Main article: Moon rock
Lunar Mission Sample Returned Representative Sample
Apollo 11 22 kg
Apollo 12 34 kg
Apollo 14 43 kg
Apollo 15 77 kg The most famous of the Moon rocks recovered, the Genesis Rock, was discovered and returned from the Apollo 15 mission.
Apollo 16 95 kg Ferroan Anorthosite moon rock, collected by Apollo 16. The only sources of moon rocks on Earth are those collected from the Apollo program, the former Soviet Union's Luna missions, and lunar meteorites. Future missions manned or unmanned would provide the opportunity to collect more.
Apollo 17 111 kg

The Apollo program returned 381.7 kg (841.5 lb) of rocks and other material from the Moon, much of which is stored at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston.

In general the rocks collected from the Moon are extremely old compared to rocks found on Earth, as measured by radiometric dating techniques. They range in age from about 3.2 billion years old for the basaltic samples derived from the lunar mare, to about 4.6 billion years for samples derived from the highlands crust.[30] As such, they represent samples from a very early period in the development of the Solar System that is largely missing from Earth. One important rock found during the Apollo Program was the Genesis Rock, retrieved by astronauts James Irwin and David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission. This rock, called anorthosite, is composed almost exclusively of the calcium-rich feldspar mineral anorthite, and is believed to be representative of the highland crust. A geochemical component called KREEP was discovered that has no known terrestrial counterpart. Together, KREEP and the anorthositic samples have been used to infer that the outer portion of the Moon was once completely molten (see lunar magma ocean).

Almost all of the rocks show evidence for having been affected by impact processes. For instance, many samples appear to be pitted with micrometeoroid impact craters, something which is never seen on earth due to its thick atmosphere. Additionally, many show signs of being subjected to high pressure shock waves that are generated during impact events. Some of the returned samples are of impact melt, referring to materials that are melted in the vicinity of an impact crater. Finally, all samples returned from the Moon are highly brecciated as a result of being subjected to multiple impact events.

Analysis of composition of the lunar samples led to the conclusion, reached in 1984, that the Moon was created through a "giant impact" of a large astronomical body with the Earth.[31]

Program costs and cancellation

In March 1966, NASA told Congress the "run-out cost" of the Apollo program to put men on the moon would be an estimated $22.718 Billion for the 13-year program which eventually accomplished six successful missions between July 1969 and December 1972.

According to Steve Garber, the NASA History website curator, the final cost of project Apollo was between $20 and $25.4 billion in 1969 dollars (or approximately $135 billion in 2005 dollars).

The costs associated with the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rockets amounted to about $83 billion [Apollo spacecraft: $28 billion (Command/Service Module: $17 billion; Lunar Module: $11-billion), Saturn I, Saturn IB, Saturn V launch vehicles: about $46 billion] in 2005 dollars.

Canceled missions

Main article: Canceled Apollo missions

Originally three additional lunar landing missions had been planned, as Apollo 18 through Apollo 20. In light of the drastically shrinking NASA budget and the decision not to produce a second batch of Saturn Vs, these missions were canceled to make funds available for the development of the Space Shuttle, and to make their Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V launch vehicles available to the Skylab program. Only one of the remaining Saturn Vs was actually used to launch the Skylab orbital laboratory in 1973; the others became museum exhibits at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, George C. Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Scientific and engineering legacy

Unflown command module CM-007 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

The Apollo program stimulated many areas of technology. The flight computer design used in both the lunar and command modules was, along with the Minuteman Missile System, the driving force behind early research into integrated circuits. The fuel cell developed for this program was the first practical fuel cell. Computer-controlled machining (CNC) was pioneered in fabricating Apollo structural components.

Further information: NASA Spinoff Technologies and How Apollo Has Influenced Society

Influence on future human space exploration

Further information: List of future lunar missions

Several nations have planned future human lunar missions, and several space agencies also intend to build lunar bases.

Neil Armstrong, the commander of the first successful landing Apollo 11, is often asked by the press for his views on the future of spaceflight. In 2005, he said that a human voyage to Mars will be easier than the lunar challenge of the 1960s: "I suspect that even though the various questions are difficult and many, they are not as difficult and many as those we faced when we started the Apollo (space program) in 1961."

Constellation program

Main article: Constellation program

In a speech on January 14, 2004, President Bush announced a new Vision for Space Exploration, which included plans for the United States to return astronauts to the Moon no later than 2020 (with the first human landing -- Orion 15 -- currently planned for 2019). This mission would be a part of Constellation program, NASA's program to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight.

Replacing the Space Shuttle following its retirement in 2010 will be the Orion crew capsule, which closely resembles the Apollo command module in its aerodynamic shape. NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin has described the capsule as "Apollo on steroids," and the New Scientist magazine reports that "some critics... say the whole Orion program is little more than a throwback to Apollo-era technology."[32] In other respects, however—including its cockpit displays and its heatshield—Orion will be employing new technology.[33] More closely based on Apollo designs is the upper stage of the Ares I, the launch vehicle designed to take Orion into orbit. It will be based on a J-2X engine, a redesigned version of the J-2 engine used in the Saturn family of boosters. In working on the J-2X, NASA engineers have visited museums, searched for Apollo-era documentation and consulted with engineers who worked on the Apollo program. "The mechanics of landing on the moon and getting off the moon to a large extent have been solved," said Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley. "That is the legacy that Apollo gave us."[34]

Like Apollo, Orion will fly a lunar orbit rendezvous mission profile, but unlike Apollo, the lander, known as Altair, will be launched separately on the Ares V rocket, a rocket based on both Space Shuttle and Apollo technologies. Orion will be launched separately and will link up with Altair in low earth orbit like that of the Skylab program. Also, Orion, unlike Apollo, will remain unmanned in lunar orbit while the entire crew lands on the lunar surface, with the lunar polar regions in mind instead of the equatorial regions explored by Apollo. Constellation will also employ an Earth orbit rendezvous mission profile, which was dropped in favor of lunar orbit rendezvous in Apollo.

Cultural legacy

A world wide audience

The Apollo 8 crew's 1968 Christmas eve broadcast was the most widely watched television broadcast up until that time. The broadcast's historic significance and worldwide impact is discussed here.

Approximately one fifth of the population of the world watched the live transmission of the first Apollo moonwalk.[35]

Psychological impact on the astronauts

"We went to explore the Moon, and in fact discovered the Earth." -Eugene Cernan "Everything that I ever knew - my life, my loved ones, the Navy - everything, the whole world was behind my thumb." -James Lovell

Many astronauts and cosmonauts have commented on the profound effects that seeing Earth from space has had on them. One of the most important legacies of the Apollo program was the now-common, but not universal, view of Earth as a fragile, small planet, captured in the photographs taken by the astronauts during the lunar missions. The most famous of these photographs, taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts, is "The Blue Marble" (see image at right). These photographs have also motivated many people toward environmentalism.[36]

Documentaries

There have been numerous documentary films covering the Apollo project and the space race.

See also

Spaceflight portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Apollo program

Notes

  1. ^ 30th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Manned Apollo Missions, NASA, 1999.
  2. ^ 30th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NASA, 1999.
  3. ^ 30th Anniversary of Apollo 11, BBC, 23 July 1999.
  4. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, p. 55.
  5. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, p. 60.
  6. ^ Beschloss, 'Kennedy and the Decision to Go to the Moon,' in Launius and McCurdy, eds., Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership.
  7. ^ Sidey, John F. Kennedy, pp. 117-118.
  8. ^ Beschloss, 'Kennedy and the Decision to Go to the Moon,' p. 55.
  9. ^ "Discussion of Soviet Man-in-Space Shot," Hearing before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, 87th Congress, First Session, April 13, 1961.
  10. ^ Sidey, John F. Kennedy, p. 114
  11. ^ Kennedy to Johnson, "Memorandum for Vice President," April 20, 1961.
  12. ^ a b Johnson to Kennedy, "Evaluation of Space Program," April 21, 1961.
  13. ^ John F. Kennedy, "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs", May 25, 1961
  14. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, pp. 16-17.
  15. ^ Langley Research Center's Contributions to the Apollo Program
  16. ^ John F. Kennedy,"Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort"
  17. ^ Brooks, Grimwood and Swenson, Chariots for Apollo, p. 71.
  18. ^ a b Hansen, Enchanted Rendezvous, p 21
  19. ^ Hansen, Enchanted Rendezvous, p. 27.
  20. ^ Report of the Apollo 204 Review Board, Findings and Recommendations
  21. ^ Chariots for Apollo, Ch 7-4
  22. ^ Saturn V News Reference: First Stage Fact Sheet
  23. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, pp. 145-51, 179-81.
  24. ^ Saturn V News Reference: Second Stage Fact Sheet
  25. ^ Saturn V News Reference: Third Stage Fact Sheet
  26. ^ Saturn IB News Reference: Saturn IB Design Features
  27. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, p. 238.
  28. ^ Murray and Cox, Apollo, p. 248.
  29. ^ See Neil Armstrong#First_Moon_walk for more information.
  30. ^ James Papike, Grahm Ryder, and Charles Shearer (1998). "Lunar Samples". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 36: 5.1–5.234.
  31. ^ Burrows, William E. (1999). This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age. Modern Library, p. 431. ISBN 0375754857. OCLC 42136309.
  32. ^ NASA to boldly go... with Lockheed Martin - space - September 1, 2006 - New Scientist Space
  33. ^ Technology Review: Part Apollo, Part Boeing 787
  34. ^ NASA is borrowing ideas from the Apollo - USATODAY.com
  35. ^ Burrows, William E. (1999). This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age. Modern Library, p. 429. ISBN 0375754857. OCLC 42136309.
  36. ^ Al Gore (2007-03-17). "An Inconvenient Truth Transcript". Politics Blog -- a reproduction of the film's transcript. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.

References

Further reading

External links

Related content

Missions of the Apollo program

SA-1 · SA-2 · SA-3 · SA-4 · QTV · Pad Abort Test-1 · SA-5 · A-001 · A-101 · A-102 · A-002 · A-103 · A-003 · A-104 · Pad Abort Test-2 · A-105 · A-004 · AS-201 · AS-203 · AS-202 · Apollo 1 · Apollo 2 · Apollo 3 · Apollo 4 · Apollo 5 · Apollo 6 · Apollo 7 · Apollo 8 · Apollo 9 · Apollo 10 · Apollo 11 · Apollo 12 · Apollo 13 · Apollo 14 · Apollo 15 · Apollo 16 · Apollo 17 · Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Canceled Apollo missions
United States government human spaceflight programs
Active Space Shuttle · ISS (joint) · Project Constellation (future)
Spaceflight portal
Previous X-15 (suborbital) · Mercury · Gemini · Apollo · Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (with USSR) · Skylab · Shuttle-Mir (with Russia)
Canceled MISS · Orion (nuclear) · Dyna-Soar · Manned Orbital Laboratory · National Aero-Space Plane · Space Station Freedom (now ISS) · Orbital Space Plane
NASA planetary exploration programs
Active

Explorer · Voyager · New Millennium · Discovery · New Frontiers · Mars Exploration Rover · Project Prometheus · Project Constellation · Mars Scout
Future

Mars Scout
Completed

Pioneer · Mariner · Lunar Orbiter · Ranger · Surveyor · Apollo · Viking · Planetary Observer · Mariner Mark II · Mars Surveyor '98
Cancelled

Planetary Grand Tour · Voyager (Mars)

Spaceflight
General spaceflight History (Space Race, Accidents and incidents) · Astrodynamics ·
Applications Earth observation satellites (Spy satellites, weather satellites) · Space exploration · Space tourism · Communication satellites · Satellite navigation · Space colonization
Human spaceflight
General Astronaut · Life support system
Hazards Weightlessness (space adaptation syndrome) · cosmic radiation
Major projects Mercury · Gemini · Apollo · Shenzhou · Mir · ISS
Other Extra-vehicular activity
Spacecraft Launch vehicle · Space Shuttle · Robotic spacecraft · Self-replicating spacecraft · Spacecraft propulsion · Rocket
Destinations Sub-o