Introduction to Space Exploration - Apollo: Tragedy And Triumph

The Soviet space program continued to flourish. In September 1968 an unmanned probe called Zond 5 became the first spacecraft to travel around the Moon and return to Earth. The pressure was on NASA to speed up the Apollo missions.

On January 27, 1967, three American astronauts—Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger B. Chaffee—were killed when a flash fire raced through their capsule during a routine practice drill. They were the first human casualties of the space program. To honor their memory their tragic mission was named Apollo 1. The tragedy stunned the nation. Although some politicians called for the program to end, Apollo continued.

On October 11, 1968, the next Apollo mission was launched. Apollo 7 successfully conducted a flight test and returned to Earth. It was followed in rapid succession by the more ambitious missions of Apollo 8, Apollo 9, FIGURE 1.4 Saturn 5 rocket being transported to launch pad Deborah A. Shearer and Gregory L. Vogt, "Saturn 5 Rocket Being Transported to the Launch Pad," in Rockets: An Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology, EG-2003-01-108-HQ, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Education, 2003, http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/58269main_Rockets.Guide.pdf (accessed December 30, 2005)and Apollo 10, each of which tested a lunar or command module in lunar or Earth orbit. The mission to set humans on the Moon was named Apollo 11 and scheduled for July 1969.

By this time the Soviets had desperately tried to get their own manned lunar program going. However, the N-1 rocket kept failing its launch tests. The Soviets realized that it would not be ready before the Apollo 11 launch. Still hoping to steal some of the thunder from the Americans, the Soviets launched a robotic probe named Luna 15 to the Moon. It was designed to gather samples from the lunar surface and return to Earth before the Apollo 11 expedition. Launched on July 13, 1969, Luna 15 completed fifty-two Moon orbits before it crashed into the lunar surface on July 21, 1969, and was lost.

Meanwhile, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 set down safely on the Moon near the Sea of Tranquility. Late that evening astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped out of the spacecraft to become the first human ever to stand upon the Moon. Approximately half a billion people on Earth watched the historic event on television. Four days later the Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth to a hero's welcome. America had won the space race.

There were six more Apollo missions to the Moon before the program ended in 1972.