Among the many incredible feats and astonishing missions
that NASA has undertaken throughout the years,
there’s one space program that stands out above the rest: Apollo!
The numerous tests and the twelve manned space flights
that took place between 1961 and 1972
altered the course of human history
and effectively put an end to the space race
between the USA and the Soviet Union.
In the last episode, we saw how the Soviets
had continued to achieve many firsts in the space race.
But, with the arrival of the Apollo program,
NASA and the United States were determined to strike back!
Sit back, strap in and hold on tight,
because in this episode we’re going to the moon!
Although the Apollo missions were later dedicated
to President John F Kennedy’s publicized goal of "landing a man on the Moon
and returning him safely to the Earth",
the program was actually first conceived
during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower,
the president who came before Kennedy.
It was intended as a follow-up to Project Mercury
and to explore 3-man spaceflights,
as opposed to the 2-man flights with the Gemini spacecraft
or the solo flights with the Mercury spacecraft.
According to NASA, Apollo’s main goals included:
establishing the technology to meet other national interests in space,
carrying out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon,
developing human capability to work in the lunar environment,
and achieving superiority in space for the United States.
You might remember the Little Joe rocket from episode 2.
Well, in 1963, NASA built a 26-meter tall rocket named the Little Joe 2.
It wasn’t so little anymore though.
The rocket was used to make sure the Apollo launch escape system
was man-rated at minimum cost early in the program.
In total, 5 uncrewed tests were done with the Little Joe 2.
A much bigger rocket, the 55-meter tall Saturn 1, was built in 1961.
Ten Saturn 1 rockets were flown
before it was replaced by the heavy lift derivative Saturn 1B.
The Saturn 1B was a huge 68 meter tall rocket!
While the Saturn 1 could carry 20,000 pounds to Low Earth Orbit,
the Saturn 1B could carry more than double that amount.
After NASA had done a few test flights with the giant rocket,
the time had come to launch the first crewed mission.
However, things didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts though...
On January 27th, 1967,
Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee
were sitting in the Apollo spacecraft during a test.
The test had not been considered dangerous, since the rocket was unfueled.
The three crew members were waiting in the spacecraft
since there were communication errors.
Just 1 minute later these men went through absolute horror.
The plug door hatch could not be opened
because of the internal pressure in the cabin
and all three men died because of the fire…
The devastating event resulted in many delays
and a re-shuffling of NASA’s schedule.
Initially, the mission was named ‘AS-204’,
but to honor the crew, the name was officially changed to Apollo 1.
There was never an Apollo 2 or 3 flight.
Apollo 4 was the first uncrewed test flight of the famous Saturn V launch vehicle,
which was a 111 meter tall rocket, making it the largest rocket ever built,
and that record has not yet been broken as of February 2021.
It is even taller than the Statue of Liberty
and keep in mind that the rocket was first built in 1967.
That's more than 50 years ago!
In 1968, two more uncrewed missions followed with Apollo 5 and 6.
For Apollo 5, the Saturn 1B rocket was launched,
producing 7,100 kilonewtons at lift-off.
Only a few months later, the Saturn V was launched for the Apollo 6 mission,
producing a whopping 35,000 kilonewtons!
On October 1968, Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham
achieved a successful launch with the Saturn 1B launch vehicle.
Apollo 7 was an incredibly important mission
as it was the first crewed mission after the horrific event of Apollo 1.
It was also the first time the Apollo Spacecraft was used.
"Apollo 7 was on Earth orbit for 11 days.
Today I will tell people about this:
it was the longest,
the most ambitious,
and the most successful first test flight of any new flying machine ever."
It’s also noted as being the flight on which the first ever live TV broadcast
was performed from an American spacecraft.
NASA later stated that “although these early pictures were crude,
they served as educational moments for the public.”
At the end of the Apollo 7 mission, when the crew prepared for landing,
they were obligated to wear their helmets for safety.
However, the crew had a cold
and were scared of possibly bursting their ear drums while wearing helmets.
So, they refused to wear them.
Slayton from ground control ended up saying:
“The only thing we’re concerned about is the landing.
We couldn’t care less about the re-entry.
But it’s your neck, and I hope you don’t break it".
Schirra, the mission commander, responded:
“Thank you, babe”.
Luckily, the crew safely returned to Earth
and the Apollo 7 mission was considered a great success.
Starting with the launch of Apollo 8 on 21 December 1968,
manned missions took place using the Saturn V launch vehicle.
The rocket consisted of three stages.
The first stage would bring the vehicle to an altitude of about 42 miles,
the second stage carried it from there almost into orbit
and the third stage placed the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit
and pushed it towards the moon.
Given the tagline of "'Round the moon and back...",
the Apollo 8 mission was just that.
The Apollo 8 crew became the first humans to orbit the Moon.
After 6 days and 3 hours the crew safely returned to Earth.
While the United States was making significant progress,
the race wasn’t won yet.
The Soviet Union had built their biggest rocket ever.
The N1 rocket was a mighty 105 meters tall,
just slightly shorter than the Saturn V.
However, it was more powerful.
In February 1969 the N1 was launched
producing a whopping 45,000 kilonewtons at lift-off!
Just 68 seconds into the flight
all 30 engines for the first stage were shut down, due to a failure.
A few months later, in July 1969,
the Soviets launched a second N1 vehicle.
This time, all the engines instantly shut down except engine 18.
This caused the N1 to lean over at a 45-degree angle
and drop back onto the launch pad, which caused a massive explosion!
Meanwhile, NASA had launched another crewed Saturn V rocket.
Apollo 9 was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft,
which was massive compared to the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft.
The Apollo spacecraft included a Lunar Module.
The Module would be necessary for landing on the moon.
Apollo 9 tested the module, and performed docking with the command module again,
an essential capability required for the first crewed lunar landing.
All prime mission objectives were met
and all of the major spacecraft systems worked flawlessly.
The Apollo 10 mission was essentially a practice run for the moon landing
and it involved all aspects of a crewed lunar landing
except for the actual touchdown on the moon.
The lunar module got as close as 9.7 miles to the lunar surface.
All mission objectives were achieved,
including multiple live color TV transmissions.
"Here is the code name of our lunar module, Snoopy.
And Snoopy was a very good dog for us.
In fact, it's a fantastic vehicle of flight."
On July 16, 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 set off on what would become
the most famous and arguably the most significant space flight ever.
Just 4 days after launch, the crew arrived at the moon on July 20th.
Buzz Aldrin successfully landed the lunar module on the moon.
“The Eagle has landed”, he reported,
referring to the name given to the lunar module of Apollo 11, Eagle.
An estimated 650 million people across the world watched
as Neil Armstrong descended the steps of the lunar module
and took man’s first step onto the surface of the moon.
Armstrong famously declared:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Or did he?
FUN FACT:
despite it being one of the most famous lines said in human history,
Armstrong maintains he was actually misquoted.
He actually said "That's one small step for a man...",
since man and mankind are essentially the same thing
and wouldn’t have made sense without the ‘a’.
"It's just that people didn't hear the 'a'",
Neil Armstrong told the press after the Apollo 11 mission.
Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong explored the moon’s surface,
planted an American flag, took pictures
and collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth.
The two astronauts became immensely famous upon their return,
as you would expect,
but do you know the third astronaut’s name?
Command module pilot Michael Collins.
He stayed in the Command Module all alone,
orbiting the moon while his colleagues were wandering around on its surface.
Collins was the first person to have performed more than one spacewalk
and it’s a shame that his name often gets forgotten.
Well, here’s to you, Mike!
And now you know his name.
Maybe it will help you out if you’re ever asked at a pub quiz:
“Who was the third, lesser-known astronaut who flew on board Apollo 11?”
Another fact that often surprises people
is that NASA sent a total of 24 astronauts to the moon,
12 of whom actually walked on the moon’s surface.
And apparently walking on the moon isn’t as easy as it seems.
Alan Shephard was among those moonwalkers
and he was the only astronaut from Project Mercury to reach the moon.
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing
as NASA only narrowly managed to avert a crisis with the Apollo 13.
As documented in the blockbuster movie of the same name,
Apollo 13 suffered a catastrophic failure when one of its oxygen tanks exploded.
"Houston, we have a problem..."
It was instantly clear to the astronauts, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise,
that a third landing on the moon wasn’t going to happen.
Instead, it turned into a struggle for survival and how to get home.
Thanks to some genius engineering on the fly by the crew
and using the lunar module as a “lifeboat”,
the astronauts safely returned to Earth.
Although the primary objective set by President John F. Kennedy,
“to perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth”,
was already achieved with Apollo 11,
more Apollo missions followed until the last mission
with Apollo 17 in 1972.
During its 11 year lifespan,
a total of $25.4 billion dollars was invested in the Apollo program,
which adjusted for inflation
is the equivalent of more than $159 billion dollars today!
As for the Soviet Union, their N1 rocket never went beyond its first stage,
and failed twice more.
While the Soviet Union seemed to be the frontrunner in previous episodes,
the Space Race was eventually clearly won by the United States.
However, there was still much more to accomplish for NASA,
including the Space Shuttle Program,
the International Space Station,
and plans for the future to send humans to Mars,
so I hope you are excited for more ‘Evolution of NASA’ episodes!
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