Apollo Missions Database - Commander Dave's Space Archive

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APOLLO MISSIONS DATABASE
Every Apollo Mission, Catalogued by Commander Dave
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*** WELCOME TO THE MOST COMPLETE APOLLO DATABASE ON GEOCITIES!!! *** Updated March 1996 *** Data verified against NASA fact sheets *** I spent THREE WEEKS on this table so you better appreciate it!!! ***

THE SATURN V ROCKET

Saturn V rocket on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center

363 feet tall. 7.5 MILLION pounds of thrust.

This is the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever built. It had to be, because it was carrying three astronauts and all their equipment 238,900 miles to the Moon and back. The first stage alone had FIVE F-1 engines, each one producing 1.5 million pounds of thrust. That's more power than the entire United States electrical grid at the time!!!

I did a scale model of the Saturn V for the school science fair last year. It was 6 feet tall and made of cardboard tubes and paint. I got second place. (Billy Thompson won with his volcano. A VOLCANO. How original, Billy.)

Photo: NASA/Kennedy Space Center

THE APOLLO 1 TRAGEDY
January 27, 1967

On January 27, 1967, during a launch rehearsal test on the launch pad, a cabin fire broke out in the Apollo 1 command module. The pure oxygen atmosphere inside the capsule caused the fire to spread with terrifying speed. The crew never had a chance.

The Crew:
Virgil "Gus" Grissom - Command Pilot. A Mercury and Gemini veteran. One of the Original Seven.
Edward H. White II - Senior Pilot. The first American to walk in space during Gemini 4.
Roger B. Chaffee - Pilot. This would have been his first spaceflight.

We must never forget them. They gave their lives so we could reach the Moon. The fire led to a complete redesign of the Apollo spacecraft that made every mission after it safer. Their sacrifice is the reason Apollo 11, Apollo 13, and every other mission could fly.

I don't make jokes in this section. Some things you have to be serious about.

COMPLETE APOLLO MISSIONS TABLE
I spent three weeks putting this together. THREE WEEKS. You're welcome.
database

MISSION	DATE	CREW	DURATION	HIGHLIGHTS	RESULT
Apollo 1	Jan 27, 1967	Grissom, White, Chaffee	N/A	Cabin fire during launch pad test. Pure oxygen atmosphere.	CREW LOST
Apollo 7	Oct 11-22, 1968	Schirra, Eisele, Cunningham	10d 20h	First crewed Apollo flight! The "shakedown cruise." First live TV broadcast from space. Wally Schirra had a bad cold the whole time!	SUCCESS
Apollo 8	Dec 21-27, 1968	Borman, Lovell, Anders	6d 3h	FIRST humans to orbit the Moon!!! Took the famous "Earthrise" photo. Read from Genesis on Christmas Eve. Jim Lovell's first trip to the Moon!	SUCCESS
Apollo 9	Mar 3-13, 1969	McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart	10d 1h	First test of the Lunar Module in Earth orbit. They named the LM "Spider" and the CM "Gumdrop." First crew to fly the spacecraft that would land on the Moon!	SUCCESS
Apollo 10	May 18-26, 1969	Stafford, Young, Cernan	8d 0h	The dress rehearsal!! Came within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface but didn't land. SO CLOSE. Imagine being THAT close to the Moon and having to fly away. I would have cried.	SUCCESS
Apollo 11	Jul 16-24, 1969	Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins	8d 3h	FIRST MOON LANDING!!! "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited above. July 20, 1969 - the greatest day in human history!	SUCCESS!!!
Apollo 12	Nov 14-24, 1969	Conrad, Gordon, Bean	10d 4h	Precision landing near Surveyor 3 probe! Got struck by LIGHTNING twice during launch (at 36 and 52 seconds!) and Pete Conrad still landed perfectly. His first words on the Moon: "Whoopee!"	SUCCESS
★★★ THE BEST ONE ★★★
Apollo 13	Apr 11-17, 1970	Lovell, Swigert, Haise	5d 22h 54m	"Houston, we've had a problem." Oxygen tank #2 exploded 55 hours into the mission, 200,000 miles from Earth. They lost almost all power, water, and oxygen in the Command Module. The crew used the Lunar Module as a lifeboat. They had to do a manual burn to get back on course. The temperature dropped to 38 degrees. They had almost no water. They had to build a CO2 scrubber out of cardboard and duct tape. AND THEY STILL MADE IT HOME. Commander Dave says: "This is THE mission. Everything that could go wrong DID go wrong and they STILL brought everyone home. Gene Kranz said 'Failure is not an option' and he MEANT it. I cry every time. Every. Single. Time. I've watched the movie 347 times and I STILL get choked up when they come through the blackout and you hear Lovell's voice on the radio. This mission is why I want to be an astronaut - not because space is easy, but because when things go wrong, brave people figure it out."	"SUCCESSFUL FAILURE"
Apollo 14	Jan 31 - Feb 9, 1971	Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell	9d 0h	Alan Shepard (the first American in space!) hit GOLF BALLS on the Moon! He smuggled a club head up there. He said one went "miles and miles and miles." (It actually went about 200 yards but still - GOLF ON THE MOON!!!)	SUCCESS
Apollo 15	Jul 26 - Aug 7, 1971	Scott, Worden, Irwin	12d 7h	First lunar rover! They could finally DRIVE on the Moon! The rover had a top speed of about 11 mph. David Scott also did the famous hammer-and-feather drop experiment to prove Galileo was right. So cool!	SUCCESS
Apollo 16	Apr 16-27, 1972	Young, Mattingly, Duke	11d 1h	Highlands exploration! John Young and Charlie Duke explored the Descartes highlands. Charlie Duke left a family photo on the Moon (wrapped in plastic). They also set a lunar rover speed record of 11.2 mph!	SUCCESS
Apollo 17	Dec 7-19, 1972	Cernan, Evans, Schmitt	12d 13h	The last Apollo mission. Longest stay on the Moon (74 hours 59 minutes). Harrison Schmitt was the only scientist (geologist) to walk on the Moon. Gene Cernan was the last person to walk on the lunar surface. His last words on the Moon: "We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return." WE STILL HAVEN'T GONE BACK. (Yet!!!)	SUCCESS

DID YOU KNOW???
Apollo Fun Facts compiled by Commander Dave

#1: The total cost of the Apollo program was about $25.4 billion (in 1973 dollars). That's like $110 billion today! Sounds like a lot, but it's less than Americans spend on pizza every year. I think the Moon is more important than pizza. (Sorry, pizza.)

#2: 12 humans have walked on the Moon. All American. All men. But that'll change! I read that NASA is working on including women and international astronauts in future missions. About time if you ask me!

#3: The Moon is 238,900 miles from Earth. That's like driving from New York to Los Angeles about 86 times. It took the Apollo spacecraft about 3 days to get there. My family's drive to Grandma's house feels longer.

#4: Apollo astronauts had to quarantine for 21 days after returning from the Moon! Just in case of moon germs! They stayed in a special trailer called the Mobile Quarantine Facility. President Nixon talked to the Apollo 11 crew through a window. Can you imagine catching a cold from the MOON?!

#5: The Lunar Module was nicknamed "the spider" by the astronauts because of its spindly legs. Each LM had a name - Apollo 9's was "Spider," Apollo 10's was "Snoopy," Apollo 11's was "Eagle," and Apollo 13's was "Aquarius" (which became their lifeboat!).

#6 - Commander Dave's Personal Fact: I've memorized all 24 astronauts who flew to the Moon. Want me to prove it? Borman, Lovell, Anders, Stafford, Young, Cernan, Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins, Conrad, Gordon, Bean, Lovell (AGAIN because he's awesome), Swigert, Haise, Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell, Scott, Worden, Irwin, Young (again!), Mattingly, Duke, Cernan (again!), Evans, Schmitt. I got an A+ on my report about this for Mrs. Henderson's class!!!

THE FUTURE OF SPACE
Commander Dave's 1996 Predictions

Prediction #1: NASA says we're going back to the Moon by 2010! I'll be 28 and hopefully an astronaut by then! The new spacecraft will be way more advanced than Apollo. Imagine - a permanent Moon base! We could have TELESCOPES on the far side of the Moon where there's no light pollution or radio interference. How AMAZING would that be?!

Prediction #2: MARS IS NEXT. I've been reading about the Mars Direct plan by Robert Zubrin. It's this incredible idea where we send fuel-making equipment to Mars FIRST, then send the astronauts. We could be there by 2020! I wrote a letter to NASA volunteering. They sent me back a nice form letter and a bumper sticker. I'm counting it as progress.

Prediction #3: My Space Club is working on model rockets! Our best one went 200 feet! Mike's rocket went sideways and almost hit Mr. Patterson's car. We don't talk about that one. But the Estes Alpha III we built together went STRAIGHT UP and the parachute deployed perfectly. We're planning to try an E engine next which should get us to 1,000 feet!

Prediction #4: If you want to be an astronaut, start studying MATH and SCIENCE now!!! I'm serious! You need a degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics. Plus at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in a jet aircraft, OR 3 years of professional experience. I'm getting a head start. I got a 98 on my last math test! (Would have been 100 but I made a stupid multiplication error. UGH.)

THE FUTURE IS OUT THERE, AND WE'RE GOING TO REACH IT!!!

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Data compiled from NASA fact sheets by Commander Dave, March 1996
All information verified against the NASA History Office archives
If you find any errors, please email commander_dave@geocities.com
(My dad checks that account so keep it clean please)

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