Apollo program
In early 1960, NASA manager Abe Silverstein named the new spacecraft program Apollo after the Greek god who rode his chariot across the Sun. This decision came during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a follow-up to Project Mercury. The initial goal was simply to develop an advanced three-person crewed spacecraft capable of space station missions or circumlunar flights. By November 1960, John F. Kennedy had been elected president on a campaign promising American superiority in space and missile defense. He spoke out against the so-called missile gap between the Soviet Union and the United States that had developed under Eisenhower's watch. Yet once in office, Kennedy did not immediately commit to a Moon landing despite pressure from Congress. On the 12th of April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space. This event reinforced American fears about falling behind technologically. Just one day later, many congressmen pledged support for a crash program to catch up with the Soviets. Kennedy sent a memo to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson asking him to evaluate America's space options. Johnson concluded within a week that the nation was not making maximum effort. On the 25th of May 1961, twenty days after the first American crewed flight, Kennedy proposed the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade ended. At that time only one American had flown in space less than a month earlier. Even some NASA employees doubted whether such an audacious goal could be met. The program required $25 billion and employed 400,000 people at its peak.
Engineers debated four possible ways to reach the lunar surface during early planning phases. Direct Ascent would launch the entire spacecraft as one unit directly to the Moon without entering orbit first. Earth Orbit Rendezvous involved assembling multiple rocket launches into a single craft while circling Earth. Lunar Surface Rendezvous meant sending two separate vehicles to land sequentially on the Moon. Lunar Orbit Rendezvous emerged as the winning configuration despite being the last method initially considered by most engineers. John Houbolt at Langley Research Center campaigned relentlessly for LOR throughout 1960 and 1961. He sent memos bypassing the NASA hierarchy to Associate Administrator Robert Seamans arguing that weight reductions were critical. Houbolt described himself as speaking somewhat like a voice in the wilderness yet his work gained traction. A committee headed by Nicholas E. Golovin recommended a hybrid approach combining elements of Earth Orbit and Lunar Orbit strategies. By late 1961 Joseph Shea joined the Manned Spacecraft Center as deputy director and became a champion for LOR. Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center who favored Direct Ascent took longer to convert but Wernher von Braun announced their support on the 7th of June 1962. Kennedy's science advisor Jerome Wiesner opposed human spaceflight and hired Golovin to second-guess NASA decisions. Wiesner publicly declared No that no good during a visit to Marshall Space Flight Center in September 1962. Webb defended von Braun until Kennedy stated the matter was still subject to final review. The decision allowed the smaller spacecraft to be used as a lifeboat if the command ship failed later. This theory proved true when Apollo 13 used its lunar module to return safely after an oxygen tank explosion disabled the service module.
The Command Module served as the conical crew cabin designed to carry three astronauts from launch to ocean splashdown. It featured an ablative heat shield covering its exterior and carried parachutes to slow descent. The cylindrical Service Module supported the Command Module with propulsion engines and fuel cells using liquid hydrogen and oxygen. North American Aviation won the contract to build both components while Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation received the Lunar Module contract. Thomas J. Kelly oversaw the Lunar Module project which descended from orbit to land two astronauts before returning them to orbit. The initial model weighed approximately 15 tons and allowed surface stays up to around 34 hours. An extended version weighing over 20 tons enabled stays longer than three days. Saturn V rockets stood tall with a diameter of 33 feet and could deliver payloads exceeding 140,000 pounds to lunar orbit. The first stage burned RP-1 and LOX producing thrust rated at 7.6 million pounds upgraded to 8.9 million pounds for later missions. Second and third stages burned liquid hydrogen with restartable engines enabling translunar injection after reaching parking orbit. Little Joe II tested escape systems while Saturn I and IB handled early Earth orbital tests. Apollo 4 launched on the 9th of November 1967 demonstrated Saturn V readiness by placing a command module in high Earth orbit. Apollo 5 followed on the 22nd of January 1968 testing the Lunar Module's ascent engine successfully despite computer errors. Apollo 6 experienced pogo oscillation damaging fuel lines but controllers used service module engines to repeat flight profiles proving reliability.
A plugs-out test began on the morning of the 27th of January 1967 simulating a launch countdown on Launch Complex 34. The crew noticed a strange odor in their spacesuits delaying hatch sealing before communications problems forced a hold. During this pause an electrical fire erupted inside the cabin filled with 100% oxygen under high pressure. Pressure rose until the inner wall burst allowing flames to erupt onto the pad area frustrating rescue attempts. Gus Grissom Ed White and Roger Chaffee were asphyxiated before the quick-release outward opening door could be opened. NASA immediately convened an accident review board overseen by both houses of Congress concluding deficiencies existed in design workmanship and quality control. Administrator Webb removed Harrison Storms as command module program manager and reassigned Joseph Francis Shea replacing him with George Low. Changes included using nitrogen-oxygen mixtures instead of pure oxygen before launch removing flammable materials from cabins and suits. Block II spacecraft adopted quick-release doors while crews wore modified fire-resistant A7L space suits. The tragedy delayed the first crewed mission originally scheduled for the 21st of February 1967 pushing it back significantly. North American Aviation faced severe delays delivering spacecraft with long lists of equipment problems requiring correction. These issues caused the Phillips report investigation which documented findings in a December 19 letter to company president Lee Atwood.
Apollo 7 launched on the 11th of October 1968 testing Command Module systems during an eleven-day Earth orbital flight. Frank Borman James Lovell and William Anders made ten lunar orbits in twenty hours aboard Apollo 8 transmitting Christmas Eve television pictures. Neil Armstrong Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin achieved the first landing at Sea of Tranquility on the 20th of July 1969 spending 21 hours 36 minutes on the surface. Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed near Surveyor 3 in Ocean of Storms on the 14th of November 1969 carrying the first color television camera. Apollo 13 launched the 11th of April 1970 but an oxygen tank explosion disabled the service module forcing use of the Lunar Module as a lifeboat. Alan Shepard Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell successfully landed at Fra Mauro formation the 31st of January 1971 completing two EVAs totaling nine hours 24 minutes. David Scott Alfred Worden and James Irwin spent just under two days on Hadley Rille collecting about 170 pounds of material. John Young Ken Mattingly and Charles Duke explored Descartes Highlands the 20th of April 1972 staying over three days with more than 20 hours EVA. Eugene Cernan Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt conducted the final mission the 7th of December 1972 in Taurus-Littrow region lasting over three days with 23 hours total EVA time. Thirty-two astronauts flew missions between December 1968 and December 1972 with half walking on the lunar surface.
Over 842 pounds of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth provided unprecedented geological insights into Solar System formation. Samples ranged from 3.2 billion years old basaltic maria rocks to 4.6 billion year highland crust samples measured by radiometric dating techniques. Genesis Rock retrieved during Apollo 15 by David Scott and James Irwin consists almost exclusively of calcium-rich feldspar mineral anorthite. KREEP discovered by Apollo 12 has no known terrestrial counterpart suggesting outer Moon portions were once completely molten magma ocean. All returned samples show evidence of impact processes including micrometeoroid craters never seen on Earth due to thick atmosphere protection. High-pressure shock waves generated during impact events created brecciated textures across nearly every specimen. Some materials melted near impact craters forming impact melt rocks while others remained pitted with tiny holes from constant bombardment. Analyses suggest the Moon formed through collision of a large astronomical body with Earth billions of years ago. Today seventy-five percent of these precious samples remain stored at Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility built in Houston in 1979.
Apollo cost $25.4 billion originally or approximately $257 billion adjusted for inflation using improved cost analysis methods. Twenty billion dollars went toward design development production Saturn family rockets spacecraft spacesuits experiments operations. Another five point two billion covered ground facilities tracking networks global data acquisition systems adding significantly to total expenses. At peak employment reached over 400,000 people representing largest research project undertaken in peacetime history. After first landing public political interest waned including President Nixon wanting rein federal spending. Missions costing average $445 million each became unsustainable alongside Space Shuttle development requiring simultaneous funding. Final fiscal year ended 1973 marking end of Apollo program funding cycle. Planned missions eighteen nineteen twenty canceled leaving only six successful landings between 1969 and 1972. Unused Saturn Vs became museum exhibits at Kennedy Space Center Marshall Space Flight Center Michoud Assembly Facility Johnson Space Center. Skylab orbital laboratory launched 1973 using lower stages from Saturn V supporting three crewed missions through early 1974. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project followed as joint US-USSR mission demonstrating future cooperation possibilities paving way International Space Station programs.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did the Apollo program start and end?
The Apollo program began in early 1960 when NASA manager Abe Silverstein named the spacecraft after the Greek god. The final mission concluded on the 7th of December 1972 with Apollo 17 landing in the Taurus-Littrow region.
Who proposed the goal to land a man on the Moon before the decade ended?
President John F. Kennedy proposed the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade ended on the 25th of May 1961. This decision followed Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person to fly in space on the 12th of April 1961.
Which lunar orbit strategy won the debate among engineers during planning phases?
Lunar Orbit Rendezvous emerged as the winning configuration despite being the last method initially considered by most engineers. John Houbolt at Langley Research Center campaigned relentlessly for this approach throughout 1960 and 1961 while Wernher von Braun announced support from Marshall Space Flight Center on the 7th of June 1962.
What happened during the plugs-out test on the 27th of January 1967?
An electrical fire erupted inside the cabin filled with 100% oxygen under high pressure during the plugs-out test on Launch Complex 34. Gus Grissom Ed White and Roger Chaffee were asphyxiated before the quick-release outward opening door could be opened.
How much did the Apollo program cost originally and how many people worked at its peak?
The Apollo program cost $25 billion originally and employed 400,000 people at its peak. Adjusted for inflation using improved cost analysis methods the total reached approximately $257 billion.