The Apollo Program (1968 - 1972)

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the Command and Lunar Modules, and did not return lunar data. Apollos 8 and 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but also returned photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind experiments.

Click on the spacecraft name for information about the spacecraft and data held at NSSDC

Apollo lunar missions

Apollo 8

Launched 21 December 1968
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 27 December 1968

Apollo 10

Launched 18 May 1969
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 26 May 1969

Apollo 11

Launched 16 July 1969
Landed on Moon 20 July 1969
Sea of Tranquility
Returned to Earth 24 July 1969

Apollo 12

Launched 14 November 1969
Landed on Moon 19 November 1969
Sea of Storms
Returned to Earth 24 November 1969

Apollo 13

Launched 11 April 1970
Lunar Flyby and Return
Malfunction forced cancellation of lunar landing
Returned to Earth 17 April 1970

Apollo 14

Launched 31 January 1971
Landed on Moon 5 February 1971
Fra Mauro
Returned to Earth 9 February 1971

Apollo 15

Launched 26 July 1971
Landed on Moon 30 July 1971
Hadley Rille
Returned to Earth 7 August 1971

Apollo 16

Launched 16 April 1972
Landed on Moon 20 April 1972
Descartes
Returned to Earth 27 April 1972

Apollo 17

Launched 07 December 1972
Landed on Moon 11 December 1972
Taurus-Littrow
Returned to Earth 19 December 1972

The Apollo mission consisted of a Command Module (CM) and a Lunar Module (LM). The CM and LM would separate after lunar orbit insertion. One crew member would stay in the CM, which would orbit the Moon, while the other two astronauts would take the LM down to the lunar surface. After exploring the surface, setting up experiments, taking pictures, collecting rock samples, etc., the astronauts would return to the CM for the journey back to Earth.

Apollo Manned Earth Orbiting Missions

Apollo 7

Launched 11 October 1968

Apollo 9

Launched 03 March 1969
* More details on Apollo lunar landings
* Where are they now? - A guide to the current locations of the Apollos
* Lunar home page
* The Apollo 11 mission - Images, audio clips, and a brief history.
* The Apollo 13 malfunction - Images and information on the accident
* The Moon Trees - Trees grown from seeds brought to the Moon by Apollo 14
* Restored ALSEP Data - Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment

* Apollo Images - Johnson Space Center
* Apollo Lunar Surface Journal - Transcripts of Apollo communications
* Apollo missions - Images and information from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum RPIF
* Apollo mission summaries - Kennedy Space Center

Questions and comments about this page should be addressed to:
Dr. David R. Williams, dwilliam@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
NSSDC, Mail Code 633, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771
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NASA Official: J. H. King, king@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
Last Updated: 08 September 1997, DRW