Curated playlist
Crewed Apollo missions
- Apollo 11Apollo 11's computer flashed alarms minutes before the Moon landing. Mission Control was told it was safe to continue.
- Apollo 7Apollo 7's commander refused to let his crew wear helmets for reentry. Walter Schirra feared burst eardrums.
- Apollo 12Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice in its first minute. Every warning light lit up.
- Apollo 15Apollo 15 astronauts dropped a hammer and a falcon feather on the Moon. Both hit the ground together.
- Apollo 17Apollo 17's orange moon soil thrilled scientists who thought it was a volcano.
- Apollo 14Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the Moon. He had smuggled a six iron club head aboard.
- Apollo 1Apollo 1 never left the ground, yet three astronauts died in it. A fire broke out during a test on a fuel-free rocket.
- Apollo 10Apollo 10 was built so it could not land on the Moon. NASA gave its lunar module only about half the ascent fuel.
- Apollo 8Apollo 8 was reconceived as a Moon flight just four months before launch. A faulty lunar module forced the change.
- Apollo 16Apollo 16 went to the Moon to find volcanic rock and found none. Scientists had been sure the highlands were volcanic.
- Apollo 9An Apollo 9 crew choice quietly decided who walked on the Moon first. Commander James McDivitt turned down lunar orbit.
- Apollo 13The lunar module Aquarius was built for two astronauts but had to keep three men alive for four days.