History of the Apollo Missions

Space Race• President Eisenhower 1st

conceived the idea of going to the moon.

• JFK won the election in 1961 promising American Superiority in space exploration and missile defense. – Did not immediately push the

Apollo missions.

Soviets• April of 1961, Soviet cosmonaut

became the 1st person to fly in space. • Fear across our nation prompted

JFK to push the Apollo missions.

Yuri Gagarin

Vostok 1

John F. Kennedy

• May 25th, 1961 address to Congress

• National goal of “landing a man on the moon and returning safely to the Earth.”

Click to watch vid clip

Apollo Missions• The Apollo program

was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth.

• Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal.

Apollo 1

• All crew died tragically during a pre-flight test malfunction.

Apollo 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 9• Earth orbit missions. • Test command and lunar modules

Apollo 8 and 10• Orbited the moon. • Took photos of future landing spots. • Took this famous picture called “Earth Rise”