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Astronomy: Apollo program
President Kennedy had promised the American people that his country would walk on the Moon before the year 1970. This goal was the start of the Apollo program. The American and Russian race to the Moon had started.Apollo IOn 27 january 1967 the crew of Apollo I was simulating a countdown when a spark from the electricity wires started a fire inside the spacecraft.The fire spread rapidly due to the high oxygen mixture onboard. Because of the inward-opening door the crew couldn't escape and all three crew members died in the accident. (more acout space travel accidents) As a result of this tragedy the command module of the spacecraft was redesigned. |
 The Apollo Command and Service Module |
Apollo 8Because of the Apollo I disaster and Russian progress with the Zond missions the flight plan of Apollo 8 was altered. On 21 December 1968 and after only one test flight Apollo 8 left Earth's orbit and went to the far side of the Moon.The spacecraft orbited the Moon ten times and returned succesfully on 27 December 1968. |
 Earth seen in 1969. Photo taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts. |
Apollo 9 and 10In 1969 the Apollo 9 carried the Lunar Module Spider and as a first test in space it flew while orbiting Earth. This also was a first test in space of the new designed spacesuits.In may, two months later, the Apollo 10 also rehearsed the mission. The Lunar Module Snoopy was flown until 15 km (9 miles) from the Moon's surface. This mission also was succesfull. |
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Apollo 11In July 1969 the Apollo 11 with on board Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins took off on a mission to land on the Moon. Fate determined that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldri would pilot the Lunar Module Eagle.While descending to the Moon's surface the designated landing area in the Sea of Tranquility wasn't suitable to land. The Lunar Module had to improvise and seek a new spot. It did and with only 20 seconds of fuel left the Lunar Module landed. The liberating words "The Eagle has landed." were spoken. Armstrong was he first man to set foot on the Moon. After 2 hours and 31 minutes on the surface the two astronauts returned in the Eagle. The upper stage of the Lunar Module was blasted into lunar orbit and they rejoined with Michael Collins. On 24 July the crew splased down 1530 km (950 miles) South-West of Hawaii and they were picked up by the aircraft carrier Hornet. The crew brought back 22 kg (49 lb) of Moon rocks. |
 Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin on the Moon surface. |
Apollo 12In November 1969 Apollo 12 landed in the Ocean of Storms close to the unmanned Surveyor 3 spacecraft. |
 Apollo 12 astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad took this picture of Alan Bean's lunar soil collection activities on the Oceanus Procellarum. < JPG-image 950 X 950 pixels > |
Apollo 13This flight was troubled by an explosion in space which shut down two fuel cells and oxygen began to leak into space.The crew locked themselves in the Lunar Module and survived the freezing temperatures and the shortage of fresh air. Six days after the accident they returned to Earth; the crew survived against the odds. |
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Apollo 14Apollo 14 was redesigned and landed on the Moon ten months later after Apollo 13 in the Fra Mauro highlands. |
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Apollo 15, 16 and 17By this time it was decided the Apollo 18 until 20 missions were cancelled to cut on budget.The last Apollo flights had a Lunar Module which could stay up to three days on the Moon surface. And a battery powered Lunar Rover vehicle enabled the crew to discover and work in a wider range around the landing spot. The crew of Apollo 15 brought back a type of stone which is referred to as the Genesis-stone. This stone would prove the Moon once was one big ocean of fluid lava. Anorthosite is a substance that has a very lite density so this material would have come floated up in this ocean of lava. When Apollo 15 found this material it proved the theory that the Moon once was a hot lava ocean. When cooling down, the surface must have been all white with this material. But by time meteors and vulcanic activities had altered the surface, so Anorthosite was hard to find. Related subjects>> The Moon>> Origin of the Moon >> American Ranger missions >> American Surveyor missions >> Russian Zond missions >> Russian Luna missions |
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