Apollo Program: A Brief Overview from Beginning to the End

By History Encounters

History Encounters unearths the greatest stories with the major events from Apollo Program to expand reader horizons for readers to be best informed.

 

The Apollo Program's mission is to enter the Moon's orbit and land on its surface. This idea came from the competition between the United States and the USSR and President John F. Kennedy's challenge to his people. The Americans achieved this goal during Apollo 11's launch when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon, followed closely by Buzz Aldrin. In this reading, you will learn the preparations they made for the launch and the discoveries in the Apollo Missions.

 

Learning about history will keep you perceptive and make sure to not repeat mistakes that others made in the past. The different stories in this series will show the readers that history should not just be seen from one perspective, but from the different eyes of the groups of people involved. You never know, you might finally understand their choices, their actions and their reactions.

 

In this historical series, you will discover:

• The history of different countries and cultures
• The inner workings of major historical turning points in different countries.
• Different perspectives of major events in history
• The reasons behind different wars or battles throughout history

 

These historical series are for anyone who wants to learn fun, exciting and influential facts of what happened years before their time. Do you want to learn history through a multitude of different eyes? 

 

Scroll up and click the "add to cart" button to grab your copy now!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ched Ed
• Release date: Aug 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223003144

Book preview

Chapter One

Introduction

One small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind. Neil Armstrong said this famous quote as he set foot on the surface of the Moon. It was indeed a monumental achievement that man has accomplished. The Apollo Project opened doors to the different possibilities involving the Moon and its relation to Earth. Because of the Apollo Project, there have been discoveries on our Moon, and those discoveries led to a better understanding of the Moon. 

Why the Moon in the first place? Why would NASA and the government of America allow the people to spend tons of dollars on this project? Is it simply for vanity and pride? The answer to that can be explained in two ways. The first way is through political means. During the Cold War, the USSR and the United States were in constant competition as to which country was stronger when it came to military weapons such as missiles. When the USSR brought out Sputnik, the Americans – particularly President John F. Kennedy, urged his country to beat the USSR – he urged them to do better, be better. And that is what they did: they conquered the challenge posed by President Kennedy and, at the same time, called out the USSR, saying that they were the superior one between the two. Another way to explain why the people agreed to push through with the Apollo Project is simply through the eyes of scientists. These people are as mystified about the Moon as everyone is. So, the chance to study the Moon in ways that they used to just dream of is now reachable and tangible. And who can resist having a way to accomplish your goals?

The importance of testing something or preparing for something cannot be stressed enough. There was testing the spacecraft itself, which is incredibly important. There was the testing of the different systems and modules in the aircraft. There was the training the astronauts had to go through before even being considered to be part of the crew. And, of course, there was talk about where the launch point would be held. Besides the equipment, NASA also included safety nets inside the spacecraft just in case. Once all the preparations were made and done, all the astronauts had to think about now was the mission and that they should accomplish it. They made many discoveries during their flights.

Now, onto the Apollo Missions – there were more than just two. The Apollo Missions started with Apollo 4 and continued up until Apollo 18. The most famous Apollo Missions were Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. Apollo 11 was the pinnacle of the Apollo Project’s success. Because of Apollo 11, the quote from earlier was said. Yes, Apollo 11 is the spacecraft that brought Neil Armstrong and