The Apollo Program PTYS 395 October 9 2008 Sarah Mattson May 25 1961 President Kennedy announces the Apollo Program The goal was to put a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade Apollo Program 1961 1972 Goals Political Technological Scientific Inspiration NASA Space Program Supporting Missions Robotic Ranger 1961 1965 Surveyor 1966 1968 Lunar Orbiter 1966 1967 Manned Mercury 1961 1963 Gemini 1965 1966 Gemini IV astronaut Edward White on first U S spacewalk June 1965 1958 Act creating NASA Under President Eisenhower How to get there Direct Ascent Single large launch vehicle Rocket required not feasible Earth Orbit Rendezvous EOR Launch parts of the s c into orbit assemble in space Several rockets required Lunar Orbit Rendezvous LOR Several craft launched on one rocket Lander and orbiter separate in lunar orbit Part of lander lifts off from surface of Moon to rendezvous with orbiter Orbiter returns to Earth Unmanned Missions SA 1 SA 2 SA 3 SA 4 Apollo 4 Apollo 5 Apollo 6 SA 5 launch of the Saturn I rocket Apollo 4 on the launch pad Testing of the Saturn rockets and of the various components of the system Manned Missions Apollo 7 11 7 Schirra Eisele Cunningham Orbited Earth 163 times 8 Borman Lovell Anders Dec 21 27 1968 Saturn V Flew around Moon on Christmas eve 9 McDivitt Scott Schweikart Mar 3 13 1969 151 Orbits of Earth 1st test of Lunar module Oct 11 22 1968 10 Stafford Young Cernan May 18 26 1969 Orbited moon lunar module got within 9 miles of lunar surface 11 Armstrong Collins Aldrin July 16 24 1969 Moon landing took core samples Manned Missions Apollo 12 17 12 Conrad Gordon Bean Nov 14 24 1969 Landed near Surveyor 3 probe returned parts of of Surveyor to study effects of space environment on equipment 13 Lovell Haise Swiegert April 11 17 1970 Oxygen tank blew had to abandon lunar landing flew home in LM 14 Shepard Roosa Mitchell Jan 13 Feb 9 71 Science experiments astronauts almost got disoriented in landscape 15 Scott Irwin Worden July 26 Aug 7 1971 Lunar rover 1st Apollo space walk Hadley Rille placed lunar satellite 16 Young Mattingly Duke April 16 27 1972 Malfunction nearly scrubbed launch took Lunar rover up to 18 km h 17 Cernan Evans Schmitt Taurus Littrow Dec 7 19 1972 Last men on the Moon Training for Science Test pilots not scientists Second class of astronauts trained in areas of science such as astrophysics and geology Expanded recruitment guidelines to include scientists who were not pilots Harrison Jack Schmitt was one of these he flew on Apollo 17 Eugene Shoemaker Flagstaff trained Apollo astronauts to do geology on the Moon Used cameras core samplers retrival of rocks Eugene Shoemaker Science Planning Really took effect postApollo 11 Landing site selection Training Lunar Rover Instruments Cameras ALSEP Mapping Apollo 13 EVA Map Lunar Sample Collection Sites Apollo astronauts collected 381 69 kg of lunar rocks and regolith ALSEP Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package A set of experiments set up at each landing site from Apollo 12 on that would continue to relay information back to Earth Solar Wind Spectrometer Passive Seismic Experiment SIDE Suprathermal Ion Detector lunar atmosphere ALSEP setup Lunar surface magnetometer Science Return in brief Geology of the Moon Highlands Lowlands Composition Magnetic field Varied spatially Estimated thermal conductivity Gravitational Anomalies informed knowledge of interior Lunar history Age of Moon 4 6 Ga Attempted to explain origin Apollo 14 Alan Shepard taking a core sample New perspective on Earth Influenced study of Earth No evidence of life either past or present Scarcity of Carbon Radiation Effects on life and tech Analysis of Samples Yielded Geological History The known phases of lunar evolution are as follows 1 The existence of a melted shell from about 4 6 to 4 4 billion years ago 2 Bombardment to form the cratered highlands from about 4 4 to 4 1 billion years ago 3 The creation of the large basins from about 4 1 to 3 9 billion years ago 4 A brief period of formation of light colored plains about 3 9 billion years ago 5 The eruption of the basaltic maria from about 3 8 to about 3 1 billion years ago 6 The gradual transition to a quiet crust from about 3 0 billion years ago until the present Excerpted from Harrison Schmitt Apollo Expeditions to the Moon Chapter 14 http www hq nasa gov office pao History SP 350 ch 14 2 html Lunar Interior Crust Ca Al rich silicate plagioclase broken up in top 15 miles more cohesive from 15 40 miles deep Upper mantle 125 to 200 miles thick that contains the magnesium and iron silicates pyroxene and olivine Lower mantle 200 to 400 miles deep chondritic material 400 to 700 miles deep chondritic material may be locally melted and seismically active Core 700 1080 miles deep iron rich Legacy Planetary Science Learn about Earth by studying the formation of other planets Skylab Made use of hardware left over from cancelled Apollo missions 18 19 and 20 Apollo Soyuz Political venture Docking of two disparate craft in orbit Used Apollo 18 Why did progress stop Budget cuts NASA shifted focus to Space Shuttle program Constellation program Return to the Moon Establish a lunar base References Project Apollo A Retrospective Analysis http www hq nasa gov office pao History Apollomon Apollo html Apollo Expeditions to the Moon http www hq nasa gov office pao History SP 350 cover html Apollo Manned mission chart http www hq nasa gov office pao History apollo welcome html chart Sample Return http www lpl arizona edu SIC moon Where No Man Has Gone Before http www hq nasa gov office pao History SP 4214 ch6 1 html Apollo and Skylab http www hq nasa gov office pao History apollo welcome html chart Of course http en wikipedia org wiki Project Apollo