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Project Apollo was created by NASA to send the first humans to the Moon. Apollo made a total of eleven space flights and sent a total of twelve astronauts to the moon. Apollo's first flight was in 1968, the first moon landing was in 1969, and the last moon landing was in 1972. Six out of the seven missions set to land on the Moon did so successfully.
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President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University. Kennedy stated, "that by the end of the decade, the United States would land astronauts on the Moon."This is also when President Kennedy delivered his famous line, "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Only 6 weeks beforehand the soviets managed to send the first man into space putting pressure on the United States that led to the Apollo program. -
The Gemini program was started in hopes that NASA would come to find out more about space. NASA used the Gemini program as a tool to understand more about long-duration missions, rendezvous, and how to send astronauts outside of a spacecraft. All of this would help them with the Apollo Moon landings. -
The first man to ever leave a spacecraft was Soviet cosmonaut, Alexi Leonov. He floated freely in orbit for a little over twelve minutes. Leaving the United States behind once again. -
Gus Grissom and John Young were the first crew of the Gemini program. Gemini III or "Molly Brown," was the first crewed Gemini flight. -
Only four month after Gemini III, astronauts Ed White and Jim McDivitt took flight on Gemini IV. Ed White was the first American and second man to ever step outside a spacecraft. White maneuvered himself around the spacecraft for 23 minutes. He was connected to the spacecraft by a 25-foot line that he used to help him float around. -
Tragically, during a crewed preflight test at Cape Canaveral, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffer, all passed away after a fire broke out on Apollo I. While training for what would've been an Earth orbiting mission (which was scheduled to happen on February 21st of that year), at 18:31 a surge was recorded, causing a short-circuit, then causing a fire to breakout in the cockpit. Apollo I's tragedy put the whole Apollo program on hold. -
On Dec. 21, 1968, astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr. and William Anders launched from Cape Kennedy on the Apollo 8 mission. Apollo 8 was the first circumlunar mission to orbit the Moon and return safely to Earth. After a flight of slightly under 3 days, the crew entered orbit around the Moon at 4:03 AM on December 24. The crew spent Christmas Eve in lunar orbit because that was the time of optimal lighting conditions for surveying the Apollo Landing Site. -
Eight years prior, president John F. Kennedy made a national goal that America would land on the Moon by 1970. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins all took part of this historical moment, and after reaching lunar orbit Armstrong and Aldrin boarded their lunar module nicknamed "Eagle" and shortly touched sown on the Moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong famously said while 530 million people watched on television. -
Admin. “This Day in History: JFK Delivers Iconic 'We Choose to Go to the Moon' Speech.” Space Center Houston, September 9, 2019. https://spacecenter.org/this-day-in-history-jfk-delivers-iconic-we-choose-to-go-to-the-moon-speech/. “Apollo 11.” The Planetary Society. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/apollo-11. “Apollo 1.” NASA. NASA. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo1info.html.
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“The First Space Walk.” New Scientist. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.newscientist.com/definition/first-space-walk/#:~:text=On%2018%20March%201965%20Soviet,US%20to%20reach%20the%20moon.
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“Project Apollo.” The Planetary Society. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/apollo. Dunbar, Brian. “Apollo 8.” NASA. NASA, December 21, 2017.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo8.html. “Lunar - Missions - Apollo 8 Mission.” Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_8/. -
Harbaugh, Jennifer. “Gemini 3 Mission.” NASA. NASA, April 24, 2015. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/gemini3.html.
“Gemini: Bridge to the Moon.” NASA. NASA. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.nasa.gov/specials/gemini_gallery/.
Granath, Bob. “Gemini IV: Learning to Walk in Space.” NASA. NASA, May 29, 2015. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/gemini-iv-learning-to-walk-in-space.