Historical references

[JohnRatzenberger]

A good place to ask historical questions and to post historical reference material.

Please observe our FAQ re copyright, etc.

[Ian]

The Apollo program was the third human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States' civilian space agency. First conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a three-man spacecraft to follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the 1960s, which he proposed in a May 25, 1961 address to Congress. Project Mercury was followed by the two-man Project Gemini (1962–66). The first manned flight of Apollo was in 1968 and it succeeded in landing the first humans on Earth's Moon in 1969 through 1972.
Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Lunar Module (LM) on the Moon on July 20, 1969 and walked on its surface while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command spacecraft, and all three landed safely on Earth on July 24. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six spaceflights, 12 men walked on the Moon.
Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, and was supported by the two-man Gemini program which ran concurrently with it from 1962 to 1966. Gemini missions developed some of the space travel techniques that were necessary for the success of the Apollo missions. Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles. Apollo / Saturn vehicles were also used for an Apollo Applications program which consisted of three Skylab space station missions in 1973–74.
Apollo succeeded despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a pre-launch test. Six manned landings on the Moon were achieved. A seventh landing mission, the 1970 Apollo 13 flight, failed in transit to the Moon when an oxygen tank explosion disabled the command spacecraft's propulsion and life support, forcing the crew to use the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" for these functions to return to Earth safely.
Apollo set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending manned missions beyond low Earth orbit; Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while the final Apollo 17 mission marked the sixth Moon landing and the ninth manned 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 lunar geology. The program laid the foundation for NASA's current human spaceflight capability, and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and manned spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and computers.

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface 6 hours later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Armstrong spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft, Aldrin slightly less; and together they collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material for return to Earth. A third member of the mission, Michael Collins, piloted the command spacecraft alone in lunar orbit until Armstrong and Aldrin returned to it for the trip back to Earth.
Launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida on July 16, Apollo 11 was the fifth manned mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a Command Module with a cabin for the three astronauts which was the only part which landed back on Earth; a Service Module which supported the Command Module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen and water; and a Lunar Module for landing on the Moon. After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's upper stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and travelled for three days until they entered into lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into the Lunar Module and landed in the Sea of Tranquility. They stayed a total of about 21 and a half hours on the lunar surface. After lifting off in the upper part of the Lunar Module and rejoining Collins in the Command Module, they returned to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
Broadcast on live TV to a world-wide audience, Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy in a speech before the United States Congress, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

(Thanks to Wikipedia, who saved me typing all that out!)

[Ian]

Google really is your friend when looking for references to any aspect of this mission.

A good starting point are the Apollo pages on the NASA website.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html;

I found these mission transcripts particularly interesting.
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission ... ollo11.htm;

And here's a link to 1106 images pertaining to Apollo 11
http://www.dvidshub.net/search/?q=apoll ... age&page=1;

And lots of images of "Eagle"
http://www.dvidshub.net/search/?q=Lunar+Module+Eagle;

[coptermech]

Here's an interesting site concerning all things space.

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/aponding.htm;

[Jagewa]

Apollo 11 Image Library at NASA: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html;

and the Moon walk images: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11_eva_thumbs.html;

Cheers
Jim

[lancfan]

The November 1972 issue of Almark Modelworld included and article detailing and correcting the Airfix kit, it has full instructions and 1/72 scale working drawings of the parts to be corrected, if anyone needs this pm your email and I'll send you scans of the article.

David.

[Gregers]

That was a fascinating read. I have a big interest in the Apollo and other earlier missions. Unfortunately I won't be able to join in as the kits I have I want to spend time on and make more accurate. One odd fact, of the twelve men who walked on the moon eleven of them were boy scouts in their youth. Also the pilot of Mercury 'Liberty bell' (the capsual that was lost at sea) was Gus Grissom who was later killed along with Ed White and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. I'll shut up now as I could bang on for ages about the Apollo missions and NASA in general. Best of luck with your builds guys. I'll be watching with interest.

All the best.

Greg

[Sailorman]

Many years ago Scale models had an article about the Apollo 11 Lunar Module. It had very good drawings of each and every side showing the correct colour schemes.

Not sure that I can upload something like that .....would it break copyright rules?

[lancfan]

It would be illegal to post these pages as online images but you could scan the pages and email them, person to person for personal reference purposes.

David.

[Eric Mc]

I still use that article as a base reference when building any Lunar Module models. It was published in 1979 around the time of the 10th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.

I am totally fascinated by all things Apollo (being an impressionable pre-teen for most of the moon landing era) and I too could bang on for hours on the subject. I haven't volunteered to build anything for the moment due to too many part completed projects siting on my bench.