T h e S a tu r n V M o o n Ro cket

- - 3 6 3 fe e t t a l l ( s o m e 5 8 fe e t t a l l e r t h a n t h e S t a t u e o f L i b e r t y )
- - F u l ly f u e l e d , t h e S a t u r n V we i g h e d 6 m i l l i o n p o u n d s
Apollo - - S t a g g e r i n g c o m p l e x i t y, n ew t e c h n o l o g i e s
spacecraft l i ke L H 2 /LOX for the second stage

S-IVB - - S t i l l t h e l a r g e s t ro c ke t
ever successfully flown
One J-2 engine
(LH2 / LOX)

S-II
Five J-2 engines
(LH2 / LOX)

Gem ini
-Tit an
S-1C
Me r cu r y
- A tl a s Five F-1 engines
(Kerosene / LOX)
T he F - 1 : Powe r fo r t h e
S a tu r n V ’s fi r s t st a ge
-- 1.5 million lbs. of thrust each; 5 engines
tota l 7 .5 mil li on lb s. of t hr us t at l if tof f
- - e q u i v a l e n t t o 2 x t h e p owe r yo u wo u l d g e t
by c h a n n e l i n g E V E RY r i ve r a n d s t re a m i n
Nor th America through turbines
- - F - 1 p ro g r a m a l m o s t f a i l e d b e c a u s e o f
combus tio n i ns ta bi lit y; solve d by tr ial an d
erro r, n o t by c alcu lat ion

Combustion instability solved by adding von Braun w it h F - 1

copper baffles to injector plate (above) engines
November 9, 1967: Apollo 4, the Saturn V’s debut

A n a u toma ti c ca me ra v iew of
Ear th as Apollo 4 c limbed to
a n a p oge e o f 1 1 , 0 0 0 m i l e s
 Apo ll o C omman d / Se r vice Modu le s (CSM)
Command Module Service Module
12, 400 po u n ds 51,250 pounds
Crew c a bin , in st ru m en t s , Propulsion, power, oxygen
onboard computer, fo r m o s t o f t h e t r i p 2 0, 00 0 l b - th r us t
envi ro nmen t a l c on t ro l s y s t em e n gi n e

D o ck i ng
mec han is m ( n ot Maneuvering
included on t h ru s te rs ( 4
Ap o llo 8) sets)

Antenna for
c o m mun i c a ti o n
at lunar distance
Parachutes

3 fuel cells for electricty,

artwork: National Geographic w i t h w a t e r a s by - p ro d u c t
 Evo l u t i o n o f t he L u n a r Mo d ul e
196 2
- - We i g h t w a s A LWAYS a c o n c e r n ; G r u m m a n eve n t u a l ly w a s
l o o k i n g fo r w ay s t o s ave eve r y o u n c e , eve n grams

- - Ascen t stage crew cab i n w as a m et al bal l oon ; desc en t stage

h ad kap ton i n s te ad of wal ls

- - The L M w as as far as anyon e ever p ush ed wei gh t v s. strengt h

in a manned spacecraft.

196 4 1 96 5 1969
T h e M oo n L an d er

A scen t s tage

Descent stage
 Au gus t 1 9 6 8: G e o r g e L ow s pe a r h e a d s a b o l d i d e a fo r A p ol lo 8

- - D e l ay s i n t h e l u n a r m o d u l e t h re a t e n N A S A ’s
p l anne d se q ue n ce o f missi o ns

- - C I A I n t e l l i g e n c e s u g g e s t s i m p e n d i n g S ov i e t
m anne d ci rcu ml un a r fl ig ht

- - L ow p ro p o s e s t h a t i f A p o l l o 7 go e s we l l , A p o l l o
8 c oul d fly aro u nd t he m o o n w it hou t a LM

- - C h r i s K r a f t i n s i s t s A p o l l o 8 go i n t o l u n a r o r b i t
t o refin e kn owl e dg e o f m o o n’s i rreg ul a r g rav it y
fi eld

- - C h a n c e t o t e s t key e l e m e n t s o f l u n a r m i s s i o n :
n avi ga ti o n, co m mun icat i ons, and h igh -s peed
ree nt r y.
George Low, Apollo Spacecraft Program Manager
Oct. 11-22, 1968:
Ap ol l o 7 is “1 0 1
p erc en t” s u c c e s sf u l
( e x c e p t fo r Wa l ly
S c hi rr a ’s h e a d co ld)

Sc hi rra du r i n g t h e m is sion Donn Eisele dur ing an in-flight TV show

Ap o ll o 8’s m i s s i o n p l a n: B o l d b ut n o t
re ck l e s s

- - G o a l i s 1 0 l u n a r o r b i t s t o p rov i d e t r a c k i n g d a t a o n u n eve n l u n a r
gravity field due to mass concentrations (mascons); perform
nav iga tio n sig ht i ng s fro m luna r orb i t

- - F re e - re t u r n t r a j e c t o r y = f re e r i d e h o m e u n t i l l u n a r o r b i t i n s e r t i o n

- - S P S e n g i n e wo u l d b e t e s t - f i re d o n t h e w ay t o t h e m o o n
De cem b er
21 , 1968:
Ap o ll o 8 Apollo 8 lifts off
f rom Pa d 39 A
l e ave s E a r t h

Bill Ander s prepares to board Apollo 8

Ap ol l o 8 : M oo n w a rd b o u n d

A bove: T h e Tra n s l u na r In je ct ion burn, captured

by t h e S m i t h s o n i a n A s t ro p hy s i c a l O b s e r v a t o r y
s tat ion on M a ui , Ha waii.

Right: Fir st photo of the entire Ear th taken by a

h u m a n , f ro m t h e m o o n b o u n d A p o l l o 8
D ecem b er 24 , 1 9 6 8 :
A po l lo 8 o r b i ts a
“plaster of Paris” moon

View of lunar far side from 69 miles

T h e fi rs t E a r th r i se
D ec . 2 5 , 1 9 6 8: “ Pl e a s e b e i n fo r m e d , t he re i s a S a n t a C l a us !”

( ar t wo r k: Ro be r t Mc C a ll)
 A p erfec t re e n t r y.. .
A poll o 8 had t o t h re ad a precis e ,
2 -de gre e co rr ido r t o re e nt e r sa fe ly
To
o
ste
ep
:b
ur

A p o ll o 8 re en t r y s e e n
n

To o f ro m a i rc ra f t
up

ski shall
p o
spa off i w:
ce nto

. . . a n d a b o o s t fo r N A S A
Th e m is s io n ’s su c c es s gave N A SA n ew
conf i den c e t ha t it c o ul d m eet t h e en d- o f-
th e-d ecad e l u na r lan d i ng d ea d l ine
A po ll o 9: F irs t t e s t o f c o m p l e t e
A po ll o s pa c e c r a f t

Apollo 9 command / service module Gumdrop (left) and

lunar module Spider (above) during checkout at the
Kennedy Space Center
Ap ol l o 9 fl i es : M a rc h 3 - 1 3, 19 6 9
T he d a r k s i d e o f z e ro -g

“Rusty turned as white as that sheet

o f p a p e r.”
- - D ave S c o t t
 Te s t i n g t h e m o o n s u i t ,
and the lander

A bove: R ust y Sc h we i c ka r t ’s EVA

on March 6

Right: Spide r fl i es f ree

on March 7
May 18-26, 1969:
Ap ol l o 1 0 , th e D re s s
Re h ea rs a l

Returning from their

c lose approac h to the
m o o n , To m S t a f fo rd a n d
G ene Ce rn a n i n th e
l unar modu le Sn oopy,
s een from t he
command module
Charlie Brown
Th e fi rs t l u n a r l an di n g c rew -- by th e l u c k o f th e dr aw

Ne il A rm st ron g,
Mike C ol l in s , a n d
Buzz Aldr in

I m a ge : L I F E m a g a z i n e
 A rms tron g p ra cti ce s
Preparing for collecting the “contingenc y
s a mpl e ” of l un a r s oi l
h i st o r y ’s fi r s t
m oo n w a l k

- - E VA s c h e d u l e d t o
last 2 hours 40
m inu tes
Tasks inc l ude :
- - c o l l e c t i n g ro c k
samples
- - p l a n t i n g U. S . f l a g
- - d e p l oy i n g a few
scientific instruments
- - p h o t o g r ap hy o f
spacecraft and landing
site
T he C h a l l e n g e of t h e L u n ar La nd i n g

END OF
BRAKING PHASE ;
Powe re d • ,
Descent: VISIBILITY PHASE
. 49° \
-- Begins at 50,000 LL ;_3°
"-_'_-
fe e t , t a ke s a b o u t 1 2 HORIZONTA'L
-'--' -- sT
/" o LANDING PHASE
m inute s THRUST THRUST
I VERTICAL
VELOCITY
- - E x t re m e ly t i g h t LANDING RADAR
fue l budget re qu ire s
computer con t ro l,
w i t h o n ly o n e
10,.000 FT
POSITION NO. 1
i
9;680 FT
LA
POS G NO.
ITION RADAR
2 THRUST
2,800 LB 200 TO 75 PT
TO TOUCHDOWN
chan ce for l an di ng 3,000 FT
I

- - Tr a j e c t o r y o 500
FT
designed to give VERTICAL
pi lo t vi ew of VELOCI TY
27 TO 3 FPS
l a n d i n g s i t e f ro m
7, 000 fe et d ow n to
the s urface
VERT CAL
_'.'.L
_,'::;_;;"._!/ _ f:::, . :..,:_'., ""_,-:_'._"':!:" :':!:i'?:/';__
.:_:"=I:-'
; ';I .":.!::.';_'"::.'_?"'.':'_'. _r
:::_:_';h
' i':., :: ".LUNAI_, sURFAcE !:;: :_:-_'_._::.'_:_;'_
::.': ":' _. :!:_ ..-......_. _ VELOCITY
q g ,-p_
_.:_!':'".."'.':!..!.:_.,:'.;
" "¢_. ".'.
.'-:::_
..:_,.s:-:.:'-_:"::i;-;::":. :' ::: ". '; I __
: . .:_:',;,".:'_: ,.. "-_":- .:".m-, .i.,
_._:"!i(;'b;_.'.-!?!,:;_L- :: ', ?-:i• :..:_',,.; ._,_:, _.,:_:,
'":-. ._:.,'!,T: , ..;.: ! ,.,:.'.:. -. '
-:, :_._:":',.. " _::::':",'>. :"_-- I ""
,;"', ,L. . '-..!, 2000" " FT': ''.'" I; ".,. ::". ::_:'
'_,_..;':_:':;":'5:'.:.'_:_ .i::=
':";_..''..,--_:.y_L.:':"..-'_I" . ..,: " ;'I '.":: : : :-
5.2 NAUTICAL MILES . . .. • '.: ...:;..:,..
T he L a n d i n g Po in t (A) co mm ander ’s
w i n d ow h a s L a n d i n g
D esi g na t or ( L P D ) : Po i n t D e s i g n a t o r g r i d
How t h e L M ’s c omp u t e r insc r ibed on it li ke a
gunsight
he l p s yo u s e e w h e re
you ’re go i n g to l a n d

( B ) c omp u te r d is pl a y s LP D
a n g l e fo r c o m m a n d e r t o s i g h t
through

C
(C) c o mmander c an te ll
computer to move landing
p o i n t by n u d g i n g h a n d
controller (this method
B only used when LM is
h i g h e r t h a n a ro u n d 1 , 0 0 0
feet above the moon)
T h e LM g u i da n c e c o m p u t e r

- - D eve l o p e d a n d p ro g r a m m e d by M I T ’s
Ins trume nta t io n La bor at or y, t he LM’s’
onboard computer had a capacity of
about 36,864 (ver y well chosen!) read-
only words, plus a separate , erasable
m emo r y o f 2, 04 8 words.

-- The memory was encoded on magnetic

“donuts” and fine wires, which were
wove n a t t h e R ay t h e o n p l a n t i n Wa l t h a m ,
MA by women who had come from
tex til e mi lls and wat ch f a ct o r i es .
T he L u n ar L an d i n g Tr a i n i n g Ve h i c l e ( L LT V ) : d a n g e rou s b u t essent ia l

T he L LT V used a jet
e n g i n e t o su pp or t five-
sixths of its weight,
w h i l e t h e a s t ro n a u t
c on t rol led a rocket
e n g i n e s u p po r t in g t h e
rem a in in g on e- six th .

T h is rep ro du ce d t he
c h a ra c te ri s t ic s o f flyin g
i n l u n a r g r av i t y, w i t h o u t
l e av i n g E a r t h .

It was a fairly unforgiving

m a c h i n e , i t ' s t r u e . Fo r t h a t
v e r y rea s o n it h ad mer it .”
- - N e i l A r m s t ro n g , 1 9 8 8
 Ju ly 16 , 1 96 9:
A “f i f t y - fi ft y ” pro p o s i t i o n

A rm s t ro ng lea d s
h i s c rew t o t h e
transfer van
(P h o to : L I F E )
July 2 0 , 1 9 6 9 :
t h e re a l mi s si on b e gin s

H E AD ER T EX T

The lunar module

E agl e , w i t h Ar m st ro ng
and Aldrin inside, after
u n d o c k i n g f ro m t h e
command ship
C ol um bi a
C o m pu t er a l a r ms thre ate n th e l a ndi n g
Garman
“Give us a reading on the 1202 Program Alarm”
- - N e i l A r m s t ro n g
- - D u r i n g t h e d e s c e n t t o t h e m o o n , t h e L M ’s c o m p u t e r
b ec a m e ove rloaded a n d displayed alar m cod es
“1202”and “1201,” which the astronauts did not know
- - Fo r t u n a t e ly, c o m p u t e r a l a r m s h a d c a u s e d a p re - f l i g h t
simulation to abor t. Flight Director Gene Kranz told
h i s c o mp ute r s pec ia li s ts t o be read y for any alarm s
during the actual landing
- - I n a b a c k ro o m o f m i s s i o n c o n t ro l , J a c k G a r m a n
re co g n i zed t he a la rms an d said it was okay to
co n ti nu e t he l andi ng

The 1201 and 1202

“executive overflow” alarms
on the crib sheet Jack
Ga rm a n use d du r in g t h e
A p o l lo 1 1 l un a r l an d in g .
“Pretty rocky area.”
- - N e i l A r m s t ro n g

N A SA L RO / Go og le E a r t h / Jo hn K n oll
T h e Fi r s t Lu n ar L a n d i ng : T he f i n al m om e n t s

A n ima t ion by J oh n K n oll

D re ss ed for h i st or y ’s f ir s t m o o n w al k

- - T h e l u n a r s p a c e s u i t w a s d eve l o p e d by t h e
I n t er na t i o nal Lat ex Cor p o r ati o n (k now n fo r
ma nu f a c t uri n g Pl ay te x u n d e r ga r m e n ts) .

-- The genius of its design was in its use of

f le x i b l e b el lows- st yle jo in t s to a l l ow mo b i l i t y
w h i l e m a i n t a i n i n g p re s s u re

- - Wa t e r- c o o l e d u n d e r g a r m e n t g ave s u p e r b
co ol in g n o mat t e r h ow h ard as tro n au t wo r ke d

- - O x y g e n , c o o l i n g w a t e r, a n d r a d i o s t o re d i n
ba c kp a c k

- - We i g h e d a b o u t 1 8 0 p o u n d s o n E a r t h b u t o n ly
30 po u nd s o n t he m o o n
Artwork:
Paul Calle
“One small step ... one giant leap”

“In my view, the emotional moment was the landing. That was human contact with the moon, the
l a n d in g ... .A nd t he bus i n es s o f ge t t i n g d ow n t h e l a d de r t o m e wa s muc h l e ss si g ni fi cant. You
k n ow, I wou ldn 't hav e fo cu s ed o n t h a t a t a l l e x c e p t t h a t t h e p re s s and ev e r yone was making so
mu c h o f a b i g th i n g a b o u t th e e xi t f ro m th e v e h i c l e a n d s te p o n th e s u r fa ce w i th th e b o o t.”
- - N e i l A r m s t ro n g , 1 9 8 8
The f i rs t ma n
on the moon
After 40 years: Restored moonwalk video
Ar m s t ro ng ’s u n p lan n e d
e xp lo ra ti on
A r m s t ro n g ’ s
W hil e A l d r i n ha mmer s a c o re t ube t ra c k s
sample , Armstrong runs back to the lunar mod ule
8 0 -fo o t- d ia me t e r c rat e r abo ut 20 0 descent stage
fe e t b e h i n d t h e L M

Right: LRO view of Armstrong’s trac ks Little West

exp er iment s crater (about
Below: panorama photographed by
A rmst ro ng f rom c ra ter r im 8 0 fee t a c ro s s )
A ft e r the M o o n w a l k : A bs o r b i n g a d re a m c o me t r u e
July 21, 19 6 9 : A r ms t ro n g a nd A l d r i n’s ar twork: Apollo 12
m o o n wa l ke r - a r t i s t A l a n B e a n
mom e n t o f t r u t h

Po r t i o n o f “ c o n t i n ge n c y s p e e c h ” w r i t t e n
for President Nixon in case Armstrong and
A ld r in c o ul d n ot ge t off t h e m oon
July 2 4 , 1 9 6 9 :
“Task Accomplished”
R o cks fro m t h e m oo n
Cu ltu re w at ch : Adve r tisi n g
 November 1969: A pollo 12 ups the a nte

Surveyor 3
H E AD ER T EX T
caption

“Next time , I want a

p i n p o i n t l a n d i n g .”
-- Gen. Sam Phillips
 Apollo 12 launches into a thunderstorm, Nov. 14, 1969

Li gh tn in g st ru c k A pol l o 1 2 t wice , 35 and L uc kily for N A SA , f lig h t co ntrol le r J oh n

5 2 se con ds a f te r l if t off Aaro n was o n d u ty
November
1 9 , 1 9 69 :
“Right down
th e m i ddl e of
th e ro ad ! ”
November 20,
19 69: C onr a d
and Bean visit
Su r veyo r 3

Pe t e C o n ra d
e xam i ne s Su r vey or
3 . The lu n a r mo d ul e
I ntre pid is about
6 00 fee t a wa y
November 1969: “Not quite the same ...”
December 1969 : Bir th of a consp i ra cy th eo r y
To m Pa i n e ’s g ra n d a m b i t i o n f o r NASA
“A nation that turns down a challenge Pa i n e a n d N i x o n
l i ke t h i s i s a n a t i o n t h a t ’s o n i t s w ay a wa i t Ap o l lo 1 1’s
out.” sp la shdow n.
- - To m P a i n e , 1 9 6 9
Ch a n gi n g p r i o r it ie s

s ou rc e : w w w. s t a t i s t i c . c o m

“ T h re e s h i p s i s a l o t o f s h i p s . W hy c a n ’ t y o u
p rov e t h e w o r l d i s ro u n d w i t h o n e s h i p ? ”
The New Yorker, 19 70
1 9 7 0 : A n a ti on d i v i d e d
- - A p a t hy t ow a rd A p o l l o h a d b e g u n t o s e t i n d u r i n g A p o l l o 1 2
- - P u b l i c a t t e n t i o n d i ve r t e d t o m o re u r g e n t m a t t e r s l i ke w a r i n
Vi et na m, t ro ub le d environm ent , s ocial p roblems
- - A p o l l o 1 8 , 1 9 , 2 0 we re c a n c e l e d by s u m m e r o f ’ 7 0

Vietnam war protestor s

Fir st Ear th Day,

A p r i l 22 , 19 70
Kent State shootings , May 4, 1970
 T he nu m b e rs te ll t he stor y: Apol lo was a fl uke

NASA Budget and Workforce

$45 40,000
$40 35,000
$35
30,000
$30
25,000
$25
20,000
$20
$15 15,000

$10 10,000
$5 5,000
$0
65

80

85

90

95
58

70

00
75

05

10
19

19

19

19

19
19

19

20
19

20

20
NASA Budget $B (2011 constant dollars) NASA Personnel

so urc e : www.thespacereview.com/ar tic le/2154/1

A pri l 11- 17 , 19 7 0
A poll o 1 3 : Cr i s i s a n d R e c ove r y Ar twork: Rober t McCall
A p ol l o 1 3 ’s re s c u e : R e a l - t m e i n ge nu i t y . . .
 . . . o n a fo u n d a t i o n o f w h a t - i f t h i n k i n g
A n a l y t i c a l G ra p i c s I n c .

CO2 scrubber (par tly

i n sp ire d by Ap ol lo 8
s imu la t ion )
A po llo 13 d oc ked LM d es ce nt eng ine fir ing
(t e sted on A poll o 9 )

“Horns of Ear th” alginment

(Apo llo 8 c ontingenc y proce d u re )
“NASA’s Finest Hour”

Mi s sio n co nt ro l
celebrates Apollo
13’s sa fe ret u rn, “The finest hour, in my viewpoint, of the space program was
Ap r il 17, 1 970 getting Apollo 13 back, not the first lunar landing.”
--Tom Stafford
Ap ol l o 1 4 :
J anu ar y 3 1 -Fe b r u a r y 9 , 19 7 1

- - A l a n S h e p a rd a n d E d M i t c h e l l we re t h e f i r s t
m o on w al ker s t o ex p lore th e l u nar h i gh l a nd s
- - C l i m b i n g t h e f l a n k o f C o n e C r a t e r, t h ey h a d
t rou b l e wi t h navi gatio n
- - S h e p a rd b e c a m e t h e f i r s t l u n a r go l fe r
 T he rove r mi s s i o n s : A p oll o 17
Ap ol l o 1 5 , 1 6 , 1 7

Ap ollo 15

Apo llo 16
Rid ing th e R ove r
Th e rea c h o f A p o l l o ’s ex p l o r at i o n s

Above : Apo ll o 15
view from lu n ar
mountainside

Right: telephoto view

showi ng the lu n a r
m o d u l e F a l c o n 3.5
m i l e s a wa y
D ave S c ott re u n i t es w i t h t h e G en e si s R oc k , w h i c h t u r n s o ut
t o b e 4 . 5 b i l l i on ye a r s ol d -- al mo st a s ol d a s t h e mo on i ts e l f
A sp a c e w al k , h a l f w ay h o m e
f ro m th e mo o n

Right: Apollo 17‘s Ron

Evans dur ing his Transear th
EVA in Dec . ’72
D ec emb er 1 4 , 1 9 7 2 :
L e av i n g t h e M o o n fo r
t he f i nal t i m e . . . s o f a r

H E AD ER T EX T