The Apollo Program
1963 - 1972


The main objective of the Apollo program was to land earthlings on the Moon and bring them back safely to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal with Lunar Landings. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the Command and Lunar Modules, and did not return lunar data. Apollos 8 and 10 returned photography of the lunar surface during the tests of various components while orbiting the Moon. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to equipment failures; however, it did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind experiments.

The Apollo missions consisted of a Command Module (CM) and a Lunar Module (LM). The CM and LM were designed to separate after lunar orbit insertion. One crew member remained in the CM, which orbited the Moon, while the other two astronauts took the LM down to the lunar surface. After exploring the surface, setting up experiments, taking pictures, collecting rock samples, etc., the astronauts returned to the CM for the journey back to Earth.

Saturn V Launch Vehicle


Apollo Lunar Missions


Apollo 8

Launched 21 December 1968; pad 39A
Lunar Orbit and Return
Manned test of Saturn V and lunar orbit
Returned to Earth 27 December 1968
Crew: Borman, Lovell, Anders
Now located at: Chicago Museum of Science & Technology; Chicago, Illinois

Apollo 10

Launched 18 May 1969; pad 39B
Lunar Orbit and Return
Manned test of lunar hardware near moon
Returned to Earth 26 May 1969
Crew: Stafford, Young, Cernan
Now located at: Science Museum; London, England

Apollo 11

Launched 16 July 1969; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 20 July 1969
Area: Sea of Tranquility
Returned to Earth 24 July 1969
Crew: Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin
Now located at: National Air and Space Museum; Washington D.C.

Apollo 12

Launched 14 November 1969; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 19 November 1969
Area: Sea of Storms
Deploy lunar experiments, investigate Surveyor III
Returned to Earth 24 November 1969
Crew: Conrad, Gordon, Bean
Now located at: Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton, Virginia

Apollo 13

Launched 11 April 1970; pad 39A
Lunar Flyby and Return (Lunar mission aborted)
Proposed Area: Fra Mauro
Malfunction forced cancellation of lunar landing
Returned to Earth 17 April 1970
Crew: Lovell, Swigert, Haise
Now located at: Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas

Apollo 14

Launched 31 January 1971; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 5 February 1971
Area: Fra Mauro
Deploy lunar experiments; photograph later sites
Returned to Earth 9 February 1971
Crew: Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell
Now located at: Rockwell International; Downey, California

Apollo 15

Launched 26 July 1971; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 30 July 1971
Area: Hadley Rille
Extended investigations with lunar rover
Returned to Earth 7 August 1971
Crew: Scott, Worden, Irwin
Now located at: Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Dayton, Ohio

Apollo 16

Launched 16 April 1972; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 20 April 1972
Area: Descartes
Exploration of the lunar highlands and the Cayley formation
Returned to Earth 27 April 1972
Crew: Young, Mattingly, Duke
Now located at: US Space & Rocket Center; Huntsville , Alabama

Apollo 17

Launched 07 December 1972; pad 39A
Landed on Moon 11 December 1972
Area: Taurus-Littrow
Exploration of Taurus-Littrow region, return largest load of lunar samples
Returned to Earth 19 December 1972
Crew: Cernan, Evans, Schmitt
Now located at: Johnson Space Center; NASA, Houston, Texas

From Apollo, Ten Years Since Tranquillity Base. NASM/SI



Apollo Lunar Mission Patches

Apollo 8 Apollo 10 Apollo 11
Apollo 8 Patch Apollo 10 Patch Apollo 11 Patch
Apollo 12 Apollo 13 Apollo 14
Apollo 12 Patch Apollo 13 Patch Apollo 14 Patch
Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17
Apollo 15 Patch Apollo 16 Patch Apollo 17 Patch




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