Source: nasa.gov

10-20-2007 14:33

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. 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 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but also returned 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.

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