Dec
07
5 Random Things About the Apollo Space Program
By
The Apollo space program was an integral part of the Cold War space race. Initially conceived in 1960, in the twilight of the Eisenhower administration, it would become the third manned American spaceflight program. As we all know, in 1969, the Apollo 11 mission would carry the first humans to successfully land on the moon. Here are five more random facts about the Apollo space program, the cornerstone upon which our current knowledge of space is built.
- Abe Silverstein, manager of NASA, named the Apollo space program after the Greek god of the sun. According to Silverstein, “I was naming the spacecraft like I’d name my baby.”
- Apollo 7 was the first successful manned mission in the Apollo program when it orbited the earth in October 1968. The first attempt, though, was Apollo 1 in January 1967. However, that mission was canceled when the command module caught fire while sitting on the launchpad, killing all three astronauts on board. Thankfully, the Apollo 1 fatalities were the only fatalities suffered in the Apollo space program.
- Apollo 8 was the first manned spaceflight to orbit another celestial body when it orbited the moon in December 1968. It was also the first picture humans had ever taken of the entire Earth.
- Apollo 11 was the first landing on the moon, which occurred on July 20, 1969. However, the subsequent Apollo missions, with the exception of Apollo 13, all successfully landed on the moon. As a matter of fact, the astronauts on Apollo 15, 16, and 17 stayed on the moon for three days per mission.
- Apollo 17, which launched December 7, 1972, was the last manned mission to the moon. It was also the last mission to extend beyond low Earth orbit. However, the most famous accomplishment of the Apollo 17 program is the photographing of the Earth, also known as “The Blue Marble” photo pictured below.
Blue Marble
In honor of the 37th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 17 mission, check out Apollo 17: The NASA Mission Reports Volume Two. These are the official reports from NASA, the perfect Christmas gift for your budding astronomer!
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That sure brings back memories.
Kind of funny how it’s all just taken for granted these days. It’s even progressed to the point of space tourists…providing you have that kind of money.
Cheers,
Rod
Yeah, it’s as if going to space has become a big game. It also makes me wonder about our current space program. In 1961, Kennedy said the U.S. would put a man on the moon before the decade was over, and we did it, then went back 5 more times. Then, W. says in 2004, that we should return man to the moon by 2020. Isn’t technology supposed to make us more advanced? Why did it take nine years 50 years ago, but it’s going to take 15 years today?
[...] foot on the moon. Their accomplishments would pave the way for the future of the space program, and NASA would send five more successful missions to the moon. It was a fitting punctuation mark to the decade, considering John F. Kennedy promised in 1961 that [...]
“Apollo 11 was the first landing on the moon, which occurred on July 20, 1969. However, the subsequent Apollo missions, with the exception of Apollo 13, all successfully landed on the moon.”
‘However’ denotes something contrary. This makes no sense, unless you were to say that Apollo 11 FAILED to land on the moon THEN say ‘however, the subsequent missions were all successful’.
While I appreciate all comments to this blog, I can’t help but wonder about someone with no name or website whose first comment is critical of grammar…and nothing else. On forums, I would call this person a troll, but here at EiH, I just say thanks for the comment…