Project Apollo

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Apollo

Top

Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

(click to enlarge)
Apollo 15 spacecraft during liftoff from Cape Kennedy, Florida, U.S., atop a Saturn V three-stage (credit: NASA)

NASA manned Moon-landing project of the 1960s and '70s. The Apollo spacecraft, supplied with their own low-powered rockets, could brake on approach to the Moon and go into lunar orbit. They also could release part of the spacecraft, the lunar module, with its own rocket power, to land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back to the lunar orbiter. In July 1969 Apollo 11 made the first lunar landing ( Edwin Aldrin; Neil Armstrong). In 1970 Apollo 13 was damaged by an explosion in an oxygen tank but returned safely to Earth. Later Apollo missions explored the lunar surface extensively, collecting samples of Moon rocks and installing instruments for research. Apollo 17, the program's final lunar flight, took place in 1972. In total, 12 American astronauts walked on the Moon during six successful lunar-landing missions.

For more information on Apollo, visit Britannica.com.

Project Apollo

Top

Home > Library > Science > Modern Science

Apollo program

A series of space flights undertaken by the United States with a goal of landing a man on the moon. Each Apollo flight carried a crew of three astronauts. The first lunar landing by humans was achieved by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969. Five other successful lunar landings followed. The Apollo program ended in 1974. It was named after the Greek god of learning, Apollo.

• Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon.

Cosmic Lexicon:

Apollo

Top

Home > Library > Science > Cosmic Lexicon

U.S. Space Program which included 6 piloted lunar landings between 1969 and 1972. Apollo astronauts collected and returned 382 kilograms of rock and sediment samples from the Moon.

Help us answer these

What is the apollo Soyuz test project?

When did project apollo shut down?

Where and when did the apollo project happen?

Did the apollo project incouarge?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Cite

Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Technology The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Second Edition, Revised and updated Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 1993 by Houghton Mifflin Company . All rights reserved. Read