Mercury 7 astronauts Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra and Gordon Cooper each followed Shepard with their own Mercury missions. Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, selected to fly MA-7 (Mercury-Atlas-7) was grounded by NASA flight surgeons for an irregularity in his heartbeat. Deke became NASA's "Chief Astronaut," and finally got into space "only thirteen years overdue" with the flight of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July, 1975. The Mercury program taught us how to reach, work in, and return from space.

The Gemini Program

Ed White - Space Walking

The 10 crewed Gemini flights; Gemini 3 through Gemini 12, from 1965 through 1966, were the first space missions to rendevous and dock with other spacecraft in orbit and to test astronauts and hardware for up to 2 weeks in Earth orbit. Gemini astronauts also conducted extensive EVA's (Extra Vehicular Activities - space walks). Ed White became the first American to walk in space from his Gemini 4 spacecraft launched June 3, 1965. Only Gemini 3, the first crewed Gemini spacecraft, had a call sign; "Molly Brown." Command pilot Gus Grissom, whose Mercury spacecraft sank and was lost after splashdown in the Atlantic, jokingly named his Gemini spacecraft in reference to the heroine of the musical comedy "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

The Apollo Program

APOLLO 1

January 27, 1967

Virgil I. Grissom * Edward H. White II * Roger Chaffee

Apollo astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger Chaffee sacrificed their lives for the space program when a fire swept through their Apollo Command Module during a pre-flight test at Pad 34, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Kennedy, Florida, January 27, 1967.

The success of the Apollo space program is founded on the lessons learned in the tragedy of Apollo 1.

APOLLO 7

Apollo 7 Launch - The Maiden Voyage

The Apollo program arose from the ashes of Apollo 1 with the successful launch of Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968. Commander Walter "Wally" M. Schirra, Jr., Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele, and Lunar Module Pilot R. Walter Cunningham checked out the re-engineered Apollo Command and Service Module for the maiden crewed voyage of Apollo space program.

APOLLO 8

Apollo 8 Patch

Launched on December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James A. Lovell, Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot William A. Anders became the first human interplanetary space explorers when they left the bounds of Earth's gravity well and flew their Apollo 8 spacecraft for a 10 orbit swing around the Moon.

From the crew of Apollo 8 The crew of Apollo 8 brought back the first photograph of the Earth as a globe in space; a Christmas gift to humanity.

APOLLO 9

Apollo 9, launched March 3, 1969, was the first flight test Saturn V/Apollo Spacecraft in full lunar mission configuration. Apollo 9 conducted tests of the Command Module and the Lunar Module in Earth orbit. Command Module Pilot David R. Scott, was left alone to fly the Command Module named "Gumdrop," while Mission Commander James A. McDivitt, and Lunar Module Pilot Russell L. Schweickart tested the spindly legged lunar lander they called "Spider."

Spider

APOLLO 10

Earthrise from Apollo 10 Apollo 10, launched on May 18, 1969, was a full dress rehearsal of the landing mission and also a reconnaisance mission in which potential landing sites were reconnoitered. After separating from the Command Module named "Charlie Brown" and dropping from lunar orbit at 60 miles down to 50,000 feet, Mission Commander Thomas P. Stafford and Lunar Module Pilot Eugene A. Cernan barnstormed the mountains of the moon at 3,700 mph in their Lunar Module called "Snoopy." As they skimmed over the mountains of the Moon, Gene Cernan called out; "Houston, this is Snoopy! We is Go and we is down among' em, Charlie!" At the low point in their trajectory, the crew attempted to release their decent stage. Immediately the spacecraft began pitching up and down and violently yawing left and right. "We've got some wild gyrations." Cernan announced as he wrestled with the controls. For 8 tense seconds the crew fought to regain control of their ship. "Hit the AGS!" Cernan yelled to Stafford to deactivate the Abort Guidance System. Somehow an abort system switch had been left in an incorrect position. This caused the spacecraft to begin radar searching and firing rockets in an attempt to find its mother ship, "Charley Brown." The quick thinking of the skilled crew brought their ship back under control and headed back up to a rendevous with the Command ship and Command Module Pilot John W. Young for a flight home to Earth. If the crew of Snoopy had not reacted as swiftly as they had, after another 2 seconds, their spacecraft would have locked into a dive that would have crashed Apollo 10 on the Moon.

MET = Mission Elapsed Time (usually initiating at time of launch)
CMDR = Mission Commander
CM = Command Module
LM = Lunar Module

A Man on the Moon; Andrew Chaikin (1994), Viking Penguin, ISBN: 0-670-81446-6

Lost Moon; Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger (1994), Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN: 0-395-67029-2,

Moon Shot; Alan Shepard & Deke Slayton (1994), Turner Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-878685-54-6

This New Ocean; NASA SP-4201

Space Almanac - 2nd Edition

Deke! - Slayton/Cassutt

Apollo Expeditions to the Moon; NASA SP-350 (1975) Edited by Edgar M. Cortright TL789.8.U6A513 629.45'4 75-600071

Apollo 11-17 Voice Transcripts Pertaining to the Geology of the Landing Site by N.G. Bailey and G.E. Ulrich, USGS

Web Sites Referenced:

APOLLO Lunar Surface Journal (Edited by Eric M. Jones)
http://venus.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/

National Air and Space Museum - Apollo Manned Space Program
http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/Apollo.html

NASA Kennedy Space Center - Historical Archive
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/history.html

Apollo Anthology
The Mercury, Gemini & Apollo Missions (links to resources)

The Apollo Society

The Delphi Project

Education Program

Membership Program

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