FIFTEEN THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE APOLLO PROGRAM

Photograph by U.S.S. Hornet

Details, Apollo program:

Country United States
Organization NASA
Purpose Crewed lunar landing
Duration 1961–1972
First crewed flight Apollo 7 (October 11, 1968)
Last flight Apollo 17 (December 19, 1972)

Photograph by NASA

1. Preceded by the Mercury and Gemini programmes, Apollo became the third human spaceflight initiative to be administered by NASA.
2. Apollo was set up as an unambitious programme to launch a spacecraft with 3 astronauts. It was, in fact, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy who presented the idea of landing on the moon in a congress meeting held on 25 May 1961.
3. 12 crewed missions were a part of the program, 6 of which landed on the lunar surface.
4. The programme’s first crewed mission, scheduled to launch on 21 February 1967, ended in a tragedy. A fire in the cabin ignited the pure oxygen during the rehearsal, resulting in the deaths of three crew members. The mission was named Apollo 1 in their memory.
5. Apollo 8 resulted in a lawsuit…