America's Greatest Projects - Apollo Project - Part 2

In America's Greatest Projects - Apollo Project - Part 2, you'll learn ...

• Review of the events and equipment that led to the first mission to orbit the Moon (Apollo 8)
• Objectives and highlights of the pre-lunar missions (Apollo 9 and 10)
• The lunar landings (Apollo 11 and 12) – how they did it
• Details of the famous Apollo 13 scare

Overview

Credit: 4 PDH

Length: 63 pages

In the spring of 1961, President John Kennedy had the idea that placing an American astronaut on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth would surely provide the U. S. a substantial lead ahead of the Soviet Union in the “Space Race.” When he postulated that as an American challenge to a joint meeting of Congress in May of 1961, the U. S. had just sent the first astronaut into space less than one month earlier. Only then did NASA give a lunar landing serious consideration.

At the time the Mercury Project had been well underway, but would not have given America the lead in the “Space Race” over the Soviet Union regarding crewed space flight. Nor would it have provided the United States with the necessary technology to achieve such a goal. Over the next several months NASA’s administration and engineering corps developed various plans for doing what President Kennedy had suggested by the end of the decade. They developed the “bridge” program necessary between the Mercury Project and the Apollo Project, which they named Project Gemini. NASA also decided on the best technique for landing an American astronaut on the Moon, and then made it happen.

At the time, the Mercury Project had been well underway, but would not have given America the lead in the Space Race over the Soviet Union regarding manned space flight. Over the next several months NASA’s administration and engineering corps developed various plans for doing what President Kennedy had suggested by the end of the decade. In the meantime, NASA realized that a “bridge” program would be necessary between Mercury and Apollo. They created the second phase of America’s space flight program, Project Gemini.

Not only did the U. S. move far ahead of the Soviets in the decade of the 1960s, but they developed powerful technologies which the world had never seen. This course is a continuation of the synopsis in Part 1, which described the magnificent efforts of the many talented personnel in American engineering and industry. It also details the backgrounds of the many American astronauts who risked their very lives to make Kennedy's words a reality.

The course includes a short review of the events and equipment that led to the first mission to orbit the Moon (Apollo 8). It then chronicles the further missions (starting with Apollo 9) and achievements of those American men and women who worked on the Apollo Project and solved the major hurdles between placing a man in space and placing a man on the Moon and assuring his safe return. The course also describes the engineering and design efforts necessary to provide the equipment and the technology to fulfill our commitment to those astronauts to leave the Earth's gravitational field for lengthy periods and to explore well beyond the Earth.

This course is the eighth in a series of Twentieth Century projects in which American engineers overcame significant technological challenges and were at the forefront of engineering innovation.