Apollo Missions
Introduction
Apollo spacecrafts are some of the most important and influential parts of space travel and had a big impact on how society works as we know it is today. The Apollo spacecrafts were part of America's three part design to get the first man on the moon by the 1960s' and was created at the start of the Cold War. The sole aim of Apollo (other than getting the first man on moon) was to outspend the Russians in intergalactic travel and win the Cold War by using the most money and technology. In terms of achievements there have been 17 Apollo missions dating from 1960-1979 and within the time span the Apollo spacecrafts sent the first man into space, achieved a world record of how long a man could be up in space and took 68 hours (almost three days) to orbit the moon.
Apollo 1
Apollo 1 was the first Apollo mission on the 21st of February 1967. The missions aim was to do a first low earth orbital test but the spacecraft never took off. Because the rocket wasn't fuelled, the safely test had not been considered hazardous, and emergency preparedness for it was poor and when something sent wrong it was hard to control it and ultimately ended with the crew of Apollo 1 being burnt to death. On the morning of the tragedy, the crew were doing a pre-flight test when the fire broke free resulting int eh death of Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee.
Apollo 7
Apollo missions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were not included in NASA's Apollo missions as they did not largely impact this society and produced basic missions with many unsuccessful results.
Apollo 7 was the most successful mission out of the first seven and was the first crewed Apollo mission with the crew consisting of Walter Schirra Jr., Commander, R. Walter Cunningham, Lunar Module Pilot and Donn F. Eisele, Command Module Pilot. Apollo's sole purpose was to "Demonstrate Command and Service Module (CSM) with crew performance; demonstrate mission support facilities' performance during a crewed mission and demonstrate Apollo rendezvous capability; demonstrate live TV broadcasts from space." The mission basically was a small step towards future space explorations and space technology and testing out what their limitations and capabilities were. On October 1986 Apollo 7 launched perfectly and they were in orbit after about 7 minutes, Apollo 7 also saw the first live TV broadcast of Americans from space, but allowing it was a source of serious debate in NASA councils. The spaceship was fine for the first 11 days, which was longer than a journey to the moon and back and the way back was just as smooth aside from the crew splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda, just over a mile from the planned impact point. The voyagers were picked up by helicopter and deposited on the deck of the U.S. Navy's recovery ship USS Essex. . Apollo 7 was a success.
Apollo 8
Apollo 8, like Apollo 7, was deemed a success it's mission objective in short, was to travel around, not land, on the moon. The crew consisted of Frank Borman, Commander, William A. Anders, Lunar Module Pilot and James A. Lovell Jr., Command Module Pilot and the back up crew consisted of one of the most well known astronauts in the world Neil Armstrong who later went on to be the first man on the moon in Apollo 11. Apollo launched on the 21st of December 1968 and took 68 hours (almost three days) to travel the distance to the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours, during which they made a by Christmas Eve T.v broadcast while up in space. Overall like 7 it was deemed a success.
Apollo 9
Apollo 9 was the second crewed Apollo flight and it's primary objective was to fly in lunar orbit to yet again test if they could get a man on the moon. The crew on this mission were: James A. McDivitt, Commander
Russell L. Schweickart, Lunar Module Pilot
David R. Scott, Command Module Pilot
After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew performed the first crewed flight of a lunar module. After the flight it proved the lunar module worthy of crewed spaceflight, setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, Apollo 10, before the ultimate goal, landing on the Moon.
Apollo 11
Apollo 10's main objective was similar to Apollo 9 and had the same outcome. On the other hand Apollo 11 was one the most, if not, the most influential and important mission in NASA's history. Apollo 11's mission was to get the first man on the moon. The previous Apollo missions were to determine if this was possible and Apollos 9 and 10 showed that it was possible to orbit the moon and come back to earth. Apollo 11 lifted off on the 16th of July 1969 with the crew consisting of :
Neil Armstrong, Commander
Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module Pilot
Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot
The lift-off was a success and the crew were running smoothly. The event was showed to a vast audience of 600 million people around the world and the U.S president at the time, John.F Kennedy, encouraged and participated in a few of the special events held because of this daring exploration. It took three days to enter lunar orbit and at 3:17 pm, U.S time, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. At about 109 hours into the mission, Armstrong stepped onto the moon and said one the the most iconic sayings at the height of the mission: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." . About 20 minutes later, Aldrin followed him. The camera was then positioned on a tripod and half an hour later, President Nixon spoke by telephone link with the astronauts and medallions with names of astronauts who had lost their lives for this cause were placed on the moon. The descent was a success, the crew landed in the Pacific Ocean 19 miles away from where they were supposed to land but the the recovery ship USS Hornet picked them up and no harm was done. Ultimately Apollo 11 was the most influential mission of our time as it was proved that humans could get to the moon which opened up countless opportunities for future astronauts and NASA.
Apollo 13
Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 will not be displayed as the missions have similar motives, outcomes and same impact on society.
Apollo 13 was a third attempt at a lunar landing but an explosion on board forced Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing. During the first two days, the crew ran into a couple of minor surprises, but generally Apollo 13 was looking like the smoothest flight of the program. A live broadcast was set and on April the 11th, Apollo 13 lifted-off and was a success but a few days later when they were in reach of the moon, a oxygen tank started to leak ignited and damaged a wire therefore leading to an explosion and failing the oxygen tank. The crew consisted of: James A. Lovell Jr., Commander
Fred W. Haise Jr., Lunar Module Pilot
John L. Swigert Jr., Command Module Pilot
The lunar landing was aborted and they never made it to the moon as they only had supplies for another 5 days so they orbited the moon and returned to earth unscathed.
