OrbitingTruths Archive
Search the missions that carried humanity from experimental capsules and orbital rendezvous to lunar landings and the next return to deep space.
Apollo
Apollo 1 was intended to become the first crewed flight of NASA's Apollo spacecraft. The mission never launched. During a launch rehearsal on January 27, 1967, a cabin fire claimed the lives of astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. The tragedy forced NASA to confront serious spacecraft, testing, and safety failures before continuing toward the Moon.
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Apollo
Apollo 1 was intended to become the first crewed flight of NASA's Apollo spacecraft. The mission never launched. During a launch rehearsal on January 27, 1967, a cabin fire claimed the lives of astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. The tragedy forced NASA to confront serious spacecraft, testing, and safety failures before continuing toward the Moon.
Launch
February 21, 1967
Destination
Earth Orbit
Duration
Mission never launched
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 4 was the first flight of the Saturn V, the enormous rocket built to carry astronauts to the Moon. The uncrewed mission tested all three rocket stages together, restarted the third stage in space, fired the Apollo spacecraft's main engine, and sent the Command Module back through Earth's atmosphere at nearly the speed of a spacecraft returning from the Moon.
Launch
November 9, 1967
Destination
High Earth Orbit
Duration
8 hours, 36 minutes, 59 seconds
Crew
Uncrewed
Apollo
Apollo 5 was the first flight of NASA's Lunar Module, the extraordinary spacecraft designed exclusively to land astronauts on the Moon. The uncrewed mission tested both the descent and ascent engines, validated the Lunar Module's guidance systems, and proved that the vehicle could perform the complex maneuvers required for future lunar landings.
Launch
January 22, 1968
Destination
Low Earth Orbit
Duration
11 hours, 10 minutes
Crew
Uncrewed
Apollo
Apollo 6 was the second and final uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V rocket. Although the mission experienced severe engine failures and dangerous pogo oscillations, NASA successfully demonstrated the Apollo spacecraft's ability to return safely from a simulated lunar mission and gathered critical engineering data that paved the way for the first crewed Saturn V flight.
Launch
April 4, 1968
Destination
High Earth Orbit
Duration
9 hours, 57 minutes
Crew
Uncrewed
Apollo
Apollo 7 was the first crewed Apollo mission and NASA's first human spaceflight after the Apollo 1 tragedy. During an eleven-day Earth-orbit mission, the crew thoroughly tested the redesigned Apollo Command and Service Module, proving it was safe for future missions to the Moon and restoring confidence in the Apollo Program.
Launch
October 11, 1968
Destination
Low Earth Orbit
Duration
10 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 8 became the first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit, travel to the Moon, enter lunar orbit, and safely return home. During ten revolutions around the Moon, the crew photographed the now-famous Earthrise image and broadcast a Christmas Eve message watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Launch
December 21, 1968
Destination
Moon
Duration
6 days, 3 hours, 42 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 9 was the first crewed flight of the Apollo Lunar Module. During ten days in Earth orbit, astronauts tested every major maneuver required for a Moon landing, including docking, undocking, independent Lunar Module flight, spacewalks, and rendezvous, proving the complete Apollo landing system before committing crews to lunar orbit.
Launch
March 3, 1969
Destination
Low Earth Orbit
Duration
10 days, 1 hour, 54 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 10 was NASA's complete dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing. Every phase of a lunar landing mission was performed except the final descent to the surface. The Lunar Module descended to within about 9 miles (15 km) of the Moon before returning safely to lunar orbit.
Launch
May 18, 1969
Destination
Moon
Duration
8 days, 3 minutes, 23 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 11 fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's challenge by becoming the first mission to land humans on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent over twenty-one hours on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the Command Module Columbia.
Launch
July 16, 1969
Destination
Moon
Duration
8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 12 demonstrated that NASA could land on the Moon with pinpoint accuracy. Despite being struck by lightning twice during launch, the mission successfully landed beside the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, performed two lunar EVAs, deployed advanced scientific experiments, and returned pieces of Surveyor 3 to Earth for analysis.
Launch
November 14, 1969
Destination
Moon
Duration
10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 13 was intended to become humanity's third lunar landing, but an explosion in an oxygen tank transformed it into one of the greatest rescue missions in history. Through extraordinary teamwork between the crew and Mission Control, NASA safely returned all three astronauts to Earth despite catastrophic spacecraft damage.
Launch
April 11, 1970
Destination
Moon
Duration
5 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes, 41 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
Apollo
Apollo 14 returned astronauts to the Moon after the Apollo 13 accident. Despite a critical Lunar Module abort-switch malfunction just before landing, the crew safely reached the Fra Mauro Highlands, completed two successful moonwalks, deployed scientific experiments, and restored confidence in NASA's ability to conduct lunar exploration.
Launch
January 31, 1971
Destination
Moon
Duration
9 days, 23 minutes, 9 seconds
Crew
3 astronauts
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