History of Apollo missions

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 Aldrinlanded their 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      Over the span of the Apollo program, NASA conducted 33 flights. The earliest flights didn't carry human crews and were meant to test the launch vehicle and the Apollo spacecraft before attempting a lunar mission. NASA officially named 15 of the 33 flights Apollo. Eleven of these Apollo flights were manned. Six of the Apollo missions successfully landed men on the moon and returned them safely to Earth.

Edward White, Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee, the astronauts who died during the Apollo 1 tragedy.

Apollo Lunar Missions

Apollo 8

Launched 21 December 1968
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 27 December 1968

Apollo 10

Launched 18 May 1969
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 26 May 1969

Apollo 11

Launched 16 July 1969
Landed on Moon 20 July 1969
Sea of Tranquility
Returned to Earth 24 July 1969

Apollo 12

Launched 14 November 1969
Landed on Moon 19 November 1969
Ocean of Storms
Returned to Earth 24 November 1969

Apollo 13

Launched 11 April 1970
Lunar Flyby and Return
Malfunction forced cancellation of lunar landing
Returned to Earth 17 April 1970

Apollo 14

Launched 31 January 1971
Landed on Moon 5 February 1971
Fra Mauro
Returned to Earth 9 February 1971

Apollo 15

Launched 26 July 1971
Landed on Moon 30 July 1971
Hadley Rille
Returned to Earth 7 August 1971

Apollo 16

Launched 16 April 1972
Landed on Moon 20 April 1972
Descartes
Returned to Earth 27 April 1972

Apollo 17

Launched 07 December 1972
Landed on Moon 11 December 1972
Taurus-Littrow
Returned to Earth 19 December 1972

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

Apollo Crewed Earth Orbiting Missions

Apollo 7

Launched 11 October 1968
First crewed Apollo flight
Splashdown 22 October 1968

Apollo 9

Launched 03 March 1969
First crewed Lunar Module test
Splashdown 13 March 1969

The Apollo 1 Launch Pad Accident

Apollo 1

27 January 1967
Tragic Loss of Three Apollo Astronauts