Apollo program
U.S. program that first landed humans on the Moon.
The Apollo program, often called Project Apollo, was NASA’s effort to send American astronauts to the Moon. It achieved its most famous milestone in 1969, when humans first set foot on the lunar surface. The program lasted from 1961 through 1972, with its first crewed mission taking place in 1968. The idea for Apollo first emerged in 1960, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and it followed the Mercury and Gemini projects. President John F. Kennedy later gave the program its central mission: before the end of the 1960s, land a man on the Moon and bring him back safely. He announced this goal to Congress on May 25, 1961.
The goal was met by Apollo 11. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Lunar Module on the Moon and walked on its surface, while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module. All three splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24. Around 600 million people watched the landing on television. Five more Apollo missions put astronauts on the Moon, the last being Apollo 17 in December 1972. In total, twelve people walked on the Moon across these six flights.
Apollo faced a major disaster in 1967, when a cabin fire during a ground test killed the entire Apollo 1 crew. After the first Moon landing, enough hardware remained for nine more landing attempts, with plans for extended geological and astrophysical work. Budget cuts canceled three of those. Five of the remaining six succeeded, but Apollo 13’s landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded on the way to the Moon, damaging the command module. The crew survived by using the Lunar Module as a lifeboat to return to Earth.
The program used the Saturn family of rockets. These rockets also supported the Apollo Applications Program, which included Skylab—a space station that hosted three crewed missions in 1973–1974—and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, a joint U.S.-Soviet mission in low Earth orbit in 1975. Apollo set several major records in human spaceflight. It remains the only program to send people to the lunar surface. Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit and orbit another celestial body, and Apollo 11 was the first to land humans on one.
Overall, Apollo brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar rocks, which greatly improved scientists’ understanding of the Moon’s composition and geological history. The program built t
- start_year
- 1961
- end_year
- 1972
- first_crewed_flight
- 1968
- first_moon_landing
- July 20, 1969
- total_moon_landings
- 6
- people_who_walked_on_moon
- 12
- lunar_rocks_returned_pounds
- 842
Lore & Background
The Apollo program was named after the Greek god Apollo by NASA manager Abe Silverstein, who chose the name in early 1960 because he felt 'Apollo riding his chariot across the Sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program'. The program focused initially on developing an advanced crewed spacecraft, the Apollo command and service module, succeeding the Mercury program. A lunar landing became the focus only in 1961. The program encountered a major setback in 1967 when the Apollo 1 cabin fire killed the entire crew during a ground test. Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module on July 20, 1969, and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module. Approximately 600 million people worldwide watched this first landing on television. All three landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
Reader's Guide
The Apollo program set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending humans to the lunar surface. Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit and to orbit another celestial body, and Apollo 11 was the first crewed mission to land humans on one. Overall, the program returned 842 pounds (382 kg) of lunar rocks to Earth, greatly contributing to the understanding of the Moon's composition and geological history. The program laid the foundation for NASA's subsequent human spaceflight capability and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and human spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and computers. The only other time humans have left low Earth orbit has been the Artemis II flyby of the Moon in 2026, as part of the Artemis program, established as a successor to Apollo in 2017. Artemis intends to return humans to the Moon's surface no earlier than 2028.
Did You Know?
- The program was named after the Greek god Apollo by NASA manager Abe Silverstein in early 1960.
- Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit and to orbit another celestial body.
- The Apollo 13 crew used the Lunar Module as a 'lifeboat' after an oxygen tank explosion crippled the command and service module.
- Approximately 650 million people worldwide watched the first Moon landing on television.
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