[20], Landing humans on the Moon by the end of 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($25 billion; $156 billion in 2019 dollars)[2] ever made by any nation in peacetime.
Yuri Gagarin was the first (April 1961), followed by Alan Shepard in May 1961, followed by Gus Grissom in July 1961. Earth orbital flight test of LM, launched on Saturn IB; demonstrated ascent and descent propulsion; human-rated the LM. [75], A third Saturn IB test, AS-203 launched from pad 37, went into orbit to support design of the S-IVB upper stage restart capability needed for the Saturn V. It carried a nose cone instead of the Apollo spacecraft, and its payload was the unburned liquid hydrogen fuel, the behavior of which engineers measured with temperature and pressure sensors, and a TV camera. On August 30, a feasibility study competition was announced, and on October 25, three study contracts were awarded to General Dynamics/Convair, General Electric, and the Glenn L. Martin Company.
Mission controllers were able to use the service module engine to essentially repeat the flight profile of Apollo 4. It was first conceived during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a three-person spacecraft to follow the one-person Project Mercury, which put the first Americans in space. A 1964 program definition study concluded that the initial design should be continued as Block I which would be used for early testing, while Block II, the actual lunar spacecraft, would incorporate the docking equipment and take advantage of the lessons learned in Block I development. [109] The two unused Saturn Vs became museum exhibits at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, George C. Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Webb, Dryden and Robert Seamans chose it in preference due to North American's longer association with NASA and its predecessor. The crucial difference between the requirements of Apollo and the missile programs was Apollo's much greater need for reliability. [91] NASA discontinued the crewed Block I program, using the Block I spacecraft only for uncrewed Saturn V flights. NASA's yearly budget also began to shrink in light of the successful landing, and NASA also had to make funds available for the development of the upcoming Space Shuttle. [54], The Apollo astronauts were chosen from the Project Mercury and Gemini veterans, plus from two later astronaut groups. [126] This anorthosite rock is composed almost exclusively of the calcium-rich feldspar mineral anorthite, and is believed to be representative of the highland crust. Parachutes were carried to slow its descent to splashdown.
[49] The contract for design and construction of the lunar module was awarded to Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, and the project was overseen by Thomas J. NASA announced the selection of Grumman as the LEM contractor in November 1962.[44]. Harry Lime makes money dealing art and solves crime to save his life. Webb held firm and issued a request for proposal to candidate Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) contractors. "Apollo project" redirects here. Many engineers feared that rendezvous and docking, maneuvers which had not been attempted in Earth orbit, would be nearly impossible in lunar orbit.
Extraction The CMP docks the CSM with the LM, and pulls the complete spacecraft away from the S-IVB. [47], Faget's preliminary Apollo design employed a cone-shaped command module, supported by one of several service modules providing propulsion and electrical power, sized appropriately for the space station, cislunar, and lunar landing missions. Slayton replaced him with Chaffee.
Although at least three pads were planned, only two, designated A and B, were completed in October 1965. Preliminary specifications were laid out for a spacecraft with a mission module cabin separate from the command module (piloting and reentry cabin), and a propulsion and equipment module. [88], NASA immediately convened an accident review board, overseen by both houses of Congress.