Apollo, project conducted by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s and ’70s that landed the first humans on the Moon. All told, 24 Apollo astronauts visited the Moon and 12 of them walked on its surface. Additional NASA astronauts are scheduled to return to the Moon by 2025 as part of the Artemis space program.
In May 1961 Pres. John F. Kennedy committed America to landing astronauts on the Moon by 1970. The choice among competing techniques for achieving a Moon landing and return was not resolved until considerable further study. Three methods were considered. In direct ascent, one vehicle would lift off from Earth, land on the Moon, and return. However, the proposed Nova rocket would not be ready by 1970. In Earth orbit rendezvous, a spacecraft carrying the crew would dock in Earth orbit with the propulsion unit that would carry enough fuel to go to the Moon. However, this method required two separate launches.
lunar craters; Apollo 12Lunar craters and the lunar module Intrepid as seen from the Apollo 12 command module Yankee Clipper, November 19, 1969.In the method ultimately employed, lunar orbit rendezvous, a powerful launch vehicle (Saturn V rocket) placed a 50-ton spacecraft in a lunar trajectory. The spacecraft had three parts. The conical command module (CM) carried three astronauts. The service module (SM) was attached to the back of the CM and carried its fuel and power to form the command/service module (CSM). Docked to the front of the CSM was the lunar module (LM). One astronaut stayed in the CSM while the other two landed on the Moon in the LM. The LM had a descent stage and an ascent stage. The descent stage was left on the Moon, and the astronauts returned to the CSM in the ascent stage, which was discarded in lunar orbit. The LM was flown only in the vacuum of space, so aerodynamic considerations did not affect its design. (Thus, the LM has been called the first “true” spacecraft.) Before reentering Earth’s atmosphere, the SM was jettisoned to burn up. The CM splashed down in the ocean. The lunar orbit rendezvous had the advantages of requiring only one rocket and of sing fuel and mass since the LM did not need to return to Earth.
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Exploration and Discovery
1 of 2Neil Armstrong takes humankind's first steps on the lunar surface during NASA's Apollo 11 missionPerhaps the most famous of all space films, these clips document the arrival of the first human beings on the Moon on July 20, 1969.See all videos for this article
2 of 2far side of the MoonThe far side of the Moon, photographed during the Apollo 11 mission, 1969.Uncrewed missions testing Apollo and the Saturn rocket began in February 1966. The first crewed Apollo flight was delayed by a tragic accident, a fire that broke out in the Apollo 1 spacecraft during a ground rehearsal on January 27, 1967, killing astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. NASA responded by delaying the program to make changes such as not using a pure oxygen atmosphere at launch and replacing the CM hatch with one that could be opened quickly.
Watch Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins trel to the Moon on Apollo 11Liftoff and flight to the Moon of Apollo 11 with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins. After landing at Tranquility Bay, Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon.See all videos for this articleIn October 1968, following several uncrewed Earth-orbit flights, Apollo 7 made a 163-orbit flight carrying a full crew of three astronauts. Apollo 8 carried out the first step of crewed lunar exploration: from Earth orbit it was injected into a lunar trajectory, completed lunar orbit, and returned safely to Earth. Apollo 9 carried out a prolonged mission in Earth orbit to check out the LM. Apollo 10 journeyed to lunar orbit and tested the LM to within 15.2 km (9.4 miles) of the Moon’s surface. Apollo 11, in July 1969, climaxed the step-by-step procedure with a lunar landing; on July 20 astronaut Neil Armstrong and then Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon’s surface.
1 of 4Apollo 12Apollo 12 lifting off from John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Caneral, Florida, November 14, 1969.
2 of 4Apollo 15Apollo 15 astronaut James B. Irwin standing in back of the Lunar Roving Vehicle; the Lunar Module (LM) is at left with the modular equipment storage assembly (MESA) in front of it. Apollo 15 was launched July 26, 1971.
3 of 4Apollo 15 landingApollo 15 astronauts, including Jim Irwin (pictured) exploring lunar valley Hadley Rille, 1971.
4 of 4Apollo programAn astronaut descending onto the Moon during an Apollo mission.Apollo 13, launched in April 1970, suffered an accident caused by an explosion in an oxygen tank but returned safely to Earth. Remaining Apollo missions carried out extensive exploration of the lunar surface, collecting 382 kg (842 pounds) of Moon rocks and installing many instruments for scientific research, such as the solar wind experiment and the seismographic measurements of the lunar surface. Beginning with Apollo 15, astronauts drove a lunar rover on the Moon. Apollo 17, the final flight of the program, took place in December 1972. In total, 12 American astronauts walked on the Moon during the six successful lunar landing missions of the Apollo program.
How Apollo 11 landed on the MoonLearn more about the Apollo program in this interview with NASA astrophysicist Dr. Michelle Thaller and Senior Editor for Astronomy and Space Exploration at Encyclopædia Britannica Erik Gregersen.See all videos for this articleApollo CSMs were used in 1973 and 1974 in the Skylab program to take astronauts to an orbiting space station. In July 1975 an Apollo CSM docked with a Soviet Soyuz in the last flight of an Apollo spacecraft.
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A chronology of spaceflights in the Apollo program is shown in the table.
Chronology of crewed Apollo missions* mission crew dates notes *Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed on Jan. 27, 1967, in a test for the first Apollo mission. This mission was originally called Apollo 204 but was redesignated Apollo 1 as a tribute to the astronauts. Numbering of the Apollo missions began with the fourth subsequent uncrewed test flight, Apollo 4. Apollo 5 and 6 were also uncrewed flights. There was no Apollo 2 or 3.
Apollo 7 Walter Schirra, Jr. Oct. 11–22, 1968 Donn Eisele Walter Cunningham 
Apollo 8 William Anders Dec. 21–27, 1968 first to fly around the Moon Frank Borman James Lovell, Jr. 
Apollo 9 James McDivitt March 3–13, 1969 test of Lunar Module in Earth orbit Did Scott Russell Schweickart 
Apollo 10 Thomas Stafford May 18–26, 1969 rehearsal for first Moon landing John Young Eugene Cernan 
Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong July 16–24, 1969 first to walk on the Moon (Armstrong and Aldrin) Edwin ("Buzz") Aldrin Michael Collins 
Apollo 12 Charles Conrad Nov. 14–24, 1969 landed near uncrewed Surveyor 3 space probe Richard Gordon Alan Bean 
Apollo 13 James Lovell, Jr. April 11–17, 1970 farthest from Earth (401,056 km [249,205 miles]); survived oxygen tank explosion Fred Haise, Jr. Jack Swigert 
Apollo 14 Alan Shepard Jan. 31–Feb. 9, 1971 first use of modular equipment transporter (MET) Stuart Roosa Edgar Mitchell 
Apollo 15 Did Scott July 26–Aug. 7, 1971 first use of lunar rover Alfred Worden James Irwin 
Apollo 16 John Young April 16–27, 1972 first landing in lunar highlands Thomas Mattingly Charles Duke 
Apollo 17 Eugene Cernan Dec. 7–19, 1972 last to walk on the Moon (Cernan and Schmitt) Harrison Schmitt Ron Evans 
Apollo (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) Thomas Stafford July 15–24, 1975 docked in space with Soyuz 19 Vance Brand Donald ("Deke") Slayton 
1 of 2Explore the timeline of the Apollo missions that led the United States to land the first humans on the Moon. Timeline and infographic of the Apollo space missions.
2 of 2Apollo program infographic.The Apollo program: Major elements of the U.S. Apollo program, showing the Saturn V launch vehicle and configurations of the Apollo spacecraft modules at launch and during their journey to the Moon in an infographic.