List of Apollo missions

Apollo program logo

The Apollo program was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished landing the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. During the Apollo 11 mission, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module (LM) and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module (CSM), and all three landed safely on Earth on July 24, 1969. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon.

Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, with the first crewed flight in 1968. It achieved its goal of crewed lunar landing, despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test. After the first landing, sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow-up landings with a plan for extended lunar geological and astrophysical exploration. Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these. Five of the remaining six missions achieved successful landings, but the Apollo 13 landing was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion in transit to the Moon, which damaged the CSM's propulsion and life support. The crew returned to Earth safely by using the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" for these functions. Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles, which were also used for an Apollo Applications Program, which consisted of Skylab, a space station that supported three crewed missions from 1973 through 1974, and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, a joint Earth orbit mission with the Soviet Union in 1975.

Green triangles indicate locations of Apollo landings on the Moon

Apollo set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while the final Apollo 17 mission marked the sixth Moon landing and the ninth crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program returned 842 pounds (382 kg) of lunar rocks and soil to Earth, greatly contributing to the understanding of the Moon's composition and geological history. The program laid the foundation for NASA's subsequent human spaceflight capability. Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and crewed spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and computers.

The Apollo program used four types of launch vehicles. The first was the Little Joe II, which was used for uncrewed suborbital launch escape system development. The second is the Saturn I, which was used for uncrewed suborbital and orbital hardware development. The third is the Saturn IB which was used for preparatory uncrewed missions and Apollo 7. Last, the Saturn V which was used for uncrewed and crewed Earth orbit and lunar missions. The Marshall Space Flight Center, which designed the Saturn rockets, referred to the flights as Saturn-Apollo (SA), while Kennedy Space Center referred to the flights as Apollo-Saturn (AS). This is why the uncrewed Saturn I flights are referred to as SA and the uncrewed Saturn IB are referred to as AS.

Alphabetical mission types

The Apollo program required sequential testing of several major mission elements in the runup to a crewed lunar landing. An alphabetical list of major mission types was proposed by Owen Maynard in September 1967. Two "A-type" missions performed uncrewed tests of the CSM and the Saturn V, and one B-type mission performed an uncrewed test of the LM. The C-type mission, the first crewed flight of the CSM in Earth orbit, was performed by Apollo 7.

The list was revised upon George Low's proposal to commit a mission to lunar orbit ahead of schedule, an idea influenced by the status of the CSM as a proven craft and production delays of the LM. Apollo 8 was reclassified from its original assignment as a D-type mission, a test of the complete CSM/LM spacecraft in Earth orbit, to a "C-prime" mission which would fly humans to the Moon. Once complete, it obviated the need for the E-type objective of a medium Earth orbital test. The D-type mission was instead performed by Apollo 9; the F-type mission, Apollo 10, flew the CSM/LM spacecraft to the Moon for final testing, without landing. The G-type mission, Apollo 11, performed the first lunar landing, the central goal of the program.

The initial A-G list was expanded to include later mission types: H-type missions—Apollo 12, 13 (planned) and 14—would perform precision landings, and J-type missions—Apollo 15, 16 and 17—would perform thorough scientific investigation. The I-type objective, which called for extended lunar orbital surveillance of the Moon, was incorporated into the J-type missions.

Alphabetical mission types of the Apollo Program

Mission Type	Missions	Description
A	Apollo 4 Apollo 6	"Unmanned flights of launch vehicles and the CSM, to demonstrate the adequacy of their design and to certify safety for men."
B	Apollo 5	"Unmanned flight of the LM, to demonstrate the adequacy of its design and to certify its safety for men."
C	Apollo 7	"Manned flight to demonstrate performance and operability of the CSM."
C'	Apollo 8	"Command and service module manned flight demonstration in lunar orbit."
D	Apollo 9	"Manned flight of the complete lunar landing mission vehicle in low Earth orbit to demonstrate operability of all the equipment and (insofar as could be done in Earth orbit) to perform the maneuvers involved in the ultimate mission."
E	—	"Manned flight of the complete lunar landing mission vehicle in Earth orbit to great distances from Earth."
F	Apollo 10	"A complete mission except for the final descent to and landing on the lunar surface."
G	Apollo 11	"The initial lunar landing mission."
H	Apollo 12 Apollo 13 (planned) Apollo 14	"Precision manned lunar landing demonstration and systematic lunar exploration."
I	—	"Reserved for lunar survey missions (not used)."
J	Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17	"Extensive scientific investigation of Moon on lunar surface and from lunar orbit."

Test flights

Uncrewed test missions

From 1961 to 1968, the Saturn launch vehicles and components of the Apollo spacecraft were tested in uncrewed flights.

There was some incongruity in the numbering and naming of the first three uncrewed Apollo-Saturn (AS), or Apollo flights. This is due to AS-204 being renamed to Apollo 1 posthumously. This crewed flight was to have followed the first three uncrewed flights. After the fire which killed the AS-204 crew on the pad during a test and training exercise, uncrewed Apollo flights resumed to test the Saturn V launch vehicle and the Lunar Module; these were designated Apollo 4, 5 and 6. The first crewed Apollo mission was thus Apollo 7. Simple "Apollo" numbers were never assigned to the first three uncrewed flights, although renaming AS-201, AS-202, and AS-203 as Apollo 1-A, Apollo 2 and Apollo 3, had been briefly considered.

Mission	LV Serial No	Launch	Remarks	Refs
SA-1	Saturn I SA-1	27 October 1961 15:06 GMT Launch Complex 34	Test of Saturn I first stage S-I; dummy upper stages carried water
SA-2	Saturn I SA-2	25 April 1962 14:00 GMT Launch Complex 34	Dummy upper stages released 22,900 U.S. gallons (86,685 l) of water into upper atmosphere, to investigate effects on radio transmission and changes in local weather conditions
SA-3	Saturn I SA-3	16 November 1962 17:45 GMT Launch Complex 34	Repeat of SA-2 mission
SA-4	Saturn I SA-4	28 March 1963 20:11 GMT Launch Complex 34	Test premature shutdown of a single S-I engine
SA-5	Saturn I SA-5	29 January 1964 16:25 GMT Launch Complex 37B	First flight of live second stage. First orbital flight.
AS-101	Saturn I SA-6	28 May 1964 17:07 GMT Launch Complex 37B	Tested first boilerplate Apollo command and service module (CSM) for structural integrity
AS-102	Saturn I SA-7	18 September 1964 17:22 GMT Launch Complex 37B	Carried first programmable-in-flight computer on the Saturn I vehicle; last launch vehicle development flight
AS-103	Saturn I SA-9	16 February 1965 14:37 GMT Launch Complex 37B	Carried first Pegasus micrometeorite satellite (Pegasus A) in addition to boilerplate CSM
AS-104	Saturn I SA-8	25 May 1965 07:35 GMT Launch Complex 37B	Carried Pegasus B and boilerplate CSM
AS-105	Saturn I SA-10	30 July 1965 13:00 GMT Launch Complex 37B	Carried Pegasus C and boilerplate CSM
AS-201	Saturn IB AS-201	26 February 1966 16:12 GMT Launch Complex 34	First test of Saturn IB. First flight of Block I Apollo CSM. After a suborbital flight the CM landed in the Atlantic Ocean demonstrating the heat shield; however a propellant pressure loss caused premature SM engine shutdown.
AS-203	Saturn IB AS-203	5 July 1966 14:53 GMT Launch Complex 37B	No Apollo spacecraft carried; successfully verified restartable S-IVB stage design for Saturn V. Additional testing designed to rupture the tank inadvertently destroyed the stage.
AS-202	Saturn IB AS-202	25 August 1966 17:15 GMT Launch Complex 34	Longer duration suborbital to Pacific Ocean splashdown. CM heat shield tested to higher speed and successful SM firings.
Apollo 4	Saturn V AS-501	9 November 1967 12:00 GMT Launch Complex 39A	First flight of Saturn V rocket; successfully demonstrated S-IVB third stage restart and tested CM heat shield at lunar re-entry speeds.
Apollo 5	Saturn IB AS-204	22 January 1968 22:48 GMT Launch Complex 37B	First flight of LM; successfully fired descent engine and ascent engine; demonstrated "fire-in-the-hole" landing abort test.
Apollo 6	Saturn V AS-502	4 April 1968 16:12 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Second flight of Saturn V; severe "pogo" vibrations caused two second-stage engines to shut down prematurely, and third stage restart to fail. SM engine used to achieve high-speed re-entry, though less than Apollo 4. NASA identified vibration fixes and declared Saturn V man-rated.

Uncrewed launch escape system tests

From August 1963 to January 1966 a number of tests were conducted for development of the launch escape system (LES). These included simulated "pad aborts", which might occur while the Apollo-Saturn space vehicle was still on the launch pad, and flights on the Little Joe II rocket to simulate Mode I aborts which might occur while the vehicle was in the air.

Pad Abort Test 2 with boilerplate command module

Mission	Launch date and vehicle if used	Launch time	Remarks	Refs
QTV	28 August 1963 Little Joe II	13:05 GMT	Little Joe II qualification test
Pad Abort Test 1	7 November 1963	16:00 GMT	Launch escape system (LES) abort test from launch pad
A-001	13 May 1964 Little Joe II	13:00 GMT	LES transonic test, success except for parachute failure
A-002	8 December 1964	15:00 GMT	LES maximum altitude, Max-Q abort test
A-003	19 May 1965	13:01 GMT	LES canard maximum altitude abort test
Pad Abort Test 2	29 June 1965	13:00 GMT	LES pad abort test of near Block-I CM
A-004	20 January 1966	15:17 GMT	LES test of maximum weight, tumbling Block-I CM

Thermal-vacuum tests

Number	Date	Vehicle	Crew	Notes	Refs
1	July 26, 1966	spacecraft 008 (Block 1)	N/A	Flight time of 94 hours.
2	August 2, 1966	spacecraft 008 (Block 1)	Volunteers from MSC	Flight time of 183 hours
3	October 26, 1966	spacecraft 008 (Block 1)	Two astronauts and one military pilot	Flight time of 173 hours
4	June 10, 1968	2TV-1 (Block II)	N/A	29 hours of mission simulation
5	June 16, 1968	2TV-1 (Block II)	Joe Kerwin Vance Brand Joe Engle	177 hours of mission simulation
6	August 24, 1968	2TV-1 (Block II)	N/A	61 hours simulation time
7	September 4, 1968	2TV-1 (Block II)	Military pilots assigned to NASA	102 hours simulation time
8	April 1, 1968	LTA-8 (Lunar Module)	N/A	193 hours
9	May 5, 1968	LTA-8 (Lunar Module)	Jim Irwin Gerald Gibbons Glennon Kingsley Joseph Gagliano	84 hours simulation time
10	May 24, 1968	LTA-8 (Lunar Module)	N/A	288 hours simulation time Uncrewed, except for Jim Irwin, Gerald Gibbons, Glennon Kingsley, Joseph Gagliano on: May 27, 1968–10 hours May 29, 1968–12 hours
11	May 30, 1968	LTA-8 (Lunar Module)	N/A	118 hours simulation time Uncrewed, except for Jim Irwin, Gerald Gibbons, Glennon Kingsley, Joseph Gagliano on: May 31, 1968–9 hours June 1, 1968–14 hours
12	June 5, 1968	LTA-8 (Lunar Module)	Jim Irwin Gerald Gibbons Glennon Kingsley Joseph Gagliano	21 hours simulation time

Crewed Apollo missions

The Block I CSM spacecraft did not have capability to fly with the LM, and the three crew positions were designated Command Pilot, Senior Pilot, and Pilot, based on U.S. Air Force pilot ratings. The Block II spacecraft was designed to fly with the Lunar Module, so the corresponding crew positions were designated Commander, Command Module Pilot, and Lunar Module Pilot regardless of whether a Lunar Module was present or not on any mission.

A total of fifteen Saturn V vehicles were ordered (through AS-515), which would have been enough for three more Moon landing missions through Apollo 20. This flight was cancelled around the time of the Apollo 11 first landing mission to make the launch vehicle available for the Skylab space station. Shortly thereafter, Apollo 18 and 19 were cancelled in response to Congressional cuts in NASA's budget.

Several of the missions involved extravehicular activity (EVA), spacewalks or moonwalks outside of the spacecraft. These were of three types: testing the lunar EVA suit in Earth orbit (Apollo 9), exploring the lunar surface, and retrieving film canisters from the Scientific Instrument Module stored in the Service Module.

Mission	Patch	Launch date	Crew	Launch vehicle	CM name	LM name	Duration	Remarks	Refs
Apollo 1		21 February 1967 Launch Complex 34 (planned)	Gus Grissom Ed White Roger B. Chaffee	Saturn IB (AS-204)	N/A	N/A	N/A	Never launched. On 27 January 1967, a fire in the command module during a launch pad test killed the crew and destroyed the module. This flight was originally designated AS-204, and was renamed to Apollo 1 at the request of the crew's families.
Apollo 7		11 October 1968 15:02 GMT Launch Complex 34	Wally Schirra Donn F. Eisele Walter Cunningham	Saturn IB (AS-205)	N/A	N/A	10d 20h 09m 03s	Test flight of Block II CSM in Earth orbit; included first live TV broadcast from American spacecraft.
Apollo 8		21 December 1968 12:51 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Frank Borman James Lovell William Anders	Saturn V (AS-503)	N/A	N/A	06d 03h 00m 42s	First circumlunar flight of CSM, had ten lunar orbits in 20 hours. First crewed flight of Saturn V.
Apollo 9		3 March 1969 16:00 GMT Launch Complex 39A	James McDivitt David Scott Rusty Schweickart	Saturn V (AS-504)	Gumdrop	Spider	10d 01h 00m 54s	First crewed flight test of Lunar Module; tested propulsion, rendezvous and docking. EVA tested the Portable Life Support System (PLSS).
Apollo 10		18 May 1969 16:49 GMT Launch Complex 39B	Thomas P. Stafford John Young Eugene Cernan	Saturn V (AS-505)	Charlie Brown	Snoopy	08d 00h 03m 23s	"Dress rehearsal" for lunar landing. The LM descended to 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) from lunar surface.
Apollo 11		16 July 1969 13:32 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Neil Armstrong Michael Collins Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin	Saturn V (AS-506)	Columbia	Eagle	08d 03h 18m 35s	First crewed landing in Sea of Tranquility; including a single surface EVA.
Apollo 12		14 November 1969 16:22 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Charles (Pete) Conrad Richard F. Gordon Jr. Alan Bean	Saturn V (AS-507)	Yankee Clipper	Intrepid	10d 04h 36m 24s	First precise Moon landing in Ocean of Storms near Surveyor 3 probe. Two surface EVAs and returned parts of Surveyor to Earth.
Apollo 13		11 April 1970 19:13 GMT Launch Complex 39A	James Lovell Jack Swigert Fred Haise	Saturn V (AS-508)	Odyssey	Aquarius	05d 22h 54m 41s	Intended Fra Mauro landing cancelled after SM oxygen tank exploded. LM used as "lifeboat" for safe crew return. First S-IVB stage impact on Moon for active seismic test.
Apollo 14		31 January 1971 21:03 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Alan Shepard Stuart Roosa Edgar Mitchell	Saturn V (AS-509)	Kitty Hawk	Antares	09d 00h 01m 58s	Successful Fra Mauro landing. Broadcast first color TV images from lunar surface. Conducted first materials science experiments in space. Conducted two surface EVAs.
Apollo 15		26 July 1971 13:34 GMT Launch Complex 39A	David Scott Alfred Worden James Irwin	Saturn V (AS-510)	Endeavour	Falcon	12d 07h 11m 53s	Landing at Hadley–Apennine. First extended LM, three-day lunar stay. First use of Lunar Roving Vehicle. Conducted 3 lunar surface EVAs and one deep space EVA on return to retrieve orbital camera film from SM.
Apollo 16		16 April 1972 17:54 GMT Launch Complex 39A	John Young Ken Mattingly Charles Duke	Saturn V (AS-511)	Casper	Orion	11d 01h 51m 05s	Landing in Descartes Highlands. Conducted 3 lunar EVAs and one deep space EVA.
Apollo 17		7 December 1972 05:33 GMT Launch Complex 39A	Eugene Cernan Ronald Evans Harrison Schmitt	Saturn V (AS-512)	America	Challenger	12d 13h 51m 59s	Landing at Taurus–Littrow. First professional geologist on the Moon. First night launch. Conducted 3 lunar EVAs and one deep space EVA.

Canceled missions

Main article: Canceled Apollo missions

Several planned missions of the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s were canceled for a variety of reasons, including changes in technical direction, the Apollo 1 fire, hardware delays, and budget limitations.

Mission name/designation	Commander	Command Module Pilot	Lunar Module Pilot	Mission date	Date of cancellation	Remarks	Refs
AS-205 (a.k.a. Apollo 2)	Walter Schirra	Donn Eisele	Walter Cunningham	August 1967	22 December 1966	Deemed unnecessary; crew flew on Apollo 7
Apollo 18	Richard Gordon	Vance Brand	Harrison Schmitt	February 1972	2 September 1970	Budget cuts
Apollo 19	Fred Haise	William Pogue	Gerald Carr	July 1972	2 September 1970	Budget cuts
Apollo 20	Pete Conrad or Stuart Roosa	Paul Weitz	Jack Lousma	December 1972	4 January 1970	Launch vehicle needed to launch Skylab

Post-Apollo missions using Apollo hardware

There were several missions that used Apollo hardware after the cancellation of Apollo 18, Apollo 19, and Apollo 20.

Order	Launch	Mission	Launch vehicle	Commander	Pilot	Science Pilot	Duration	Remarks	Refs
1	14 May 1973 17:30 UTC Launch Complex 39A	Skylab 1	Saturn V (AS-513 minus S-IVB)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Uncrewed launch of the Skylab space station. The space station was later crewed by missions Skylab 2, Skylab 3 and Skylab 4.
2	25 May 1973 13:00 GMT Launch Complex 39B	Skylab 2	Saturn IB (AS-206)	Pete Conrad	Paul J. Weitz	Joseph P. Kerwin	28d 00h 49m 49s	First crew of the Skylab space station.
3	28 July 1973 11:10 GMT Launch Complex 39B	Skylab 3	Saturn IB (AS-207)	Alan Bean	Jack R. Lousma	Owen K. Garriott	59d 11h 09m 34s	Second Skylab station crew. Reaction Control System thruster malfunction nearly necessitated a Rescue Mission.
4	16 November 1973 14:01 GMT Launch Complex 39B	Skylab 4	Saturn IB (AS-208)	Gerald P. Carr	William R. Pogue	Edward Gibson	84d 01h 15m 31s	Third and final Skylab crew. Penultimate flight of Apollo.
5	15 July 1975 12:20 GMT Launch Complex 39B	Apollo–Soyuz Test Project	Saturn IB (AS-210)	Thomas P. Stafford	Vance D. Brand	Deke Slayton	09d 01h 28m	Final flight of both Apollo and the Saturn IB. Rendezvous and docking with Soyuz 19 spacecraft. The inadvertent entry of toxic gases into the cabin atmosphere created a potentially life-threatening health risk to the astronauts during re-entry.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Bibliography

• Hallion, Richard P.; Crouch, Tom D. (1979). Apollo: Ten Years Since Tranquility Base. Apollo: Ten Years Since Tranquillity Base. Smithsonian Institution. Bibcode:1979atys.book.....H. ISBN 978-0874745054.

External links

• NASA page on Apollo Missions
• National Space Science Data Center (Goddard Space Flight Center): Apollo Program with links to books on Program
• Space.com List of Apollo Missions.
• AstronomyToday List of Missions
• Project Apollo Flickr Photo Archive