Apollo programme

Apollo programme The US space programme conducted by NASA, announced by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, aimed at ‘landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth’. After a number of ground tests and three unmanned flights, the first manned mission (Apollo 7) flew in 1968, powered by a Saturn V launch vehicle. Three further Apollo flights tested the equipment and techniques to be used in the Moon landing. Then in 1969 Apollo 11 was launched to make the first manned Moon landing. The three astronauts travelled in the command module, which was docked during flight to both the lunar module and the service module, the latter carrying fuel and supplies. On reaching the Moon, the command and service modules remained in orbit with Michael Collins on board, while Neil Armstrong and Edwin (‘Buzz’) Aldrin landed on the Moon's surface in the lunar module. There, they set up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). When they had completed their tasks, Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon in the upper half of the lunar module and docked with the command module, which took the three astronauts safely back to Earth. Parachutes were used to land the command module in the ocean for recovery by ships and helicopters. There were five more successful missions to the Moon; for the last three the astronauts had a wheeled lunar roving vehicle to help them explore further. In all, Apollo astronauts took about fifty experiments to the Moon and brought over 380 kg (840 pounds) of rock back to Earth. Since the last Apollo mission in 1972, there have been no further manned flights to the Moon.