Editing Apollo

'''Apollo''' was [[NASA|NASA's]] third manned space program. The '''Apollo''' CSM spacecraft was capable of transporting three [[astronauts]]. 

==History==

'''Apollo''' was desinged and initially used in american efforts to send a man to The [[Moon]]. After several [[boilerplate]] designs were flowen on [[Saturn 1]] rockets, the first '''Apollo''' spacecraft was scheduled to fly in February 1967, flowen by Virgil Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, however on the 17th January, the spacecraft caught fire on the launch pad, killing the astronauts.
The first manned flight was [[Apollo 7]], launched in [[1968]], on a [[Saturn 1b]] rocket. This was followed by [[Apollo 8]], which became the first manned spacecraft to orbit The Moon, in December 1968. [[Apollo 9]] tested the Lunar Module, and [[Apollo 10]] was a "dress rehersal" for the manned landing. This landing was [[Apollo 11]], and on [[July 20th]] [[1969]], Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.

This was followed by another five successful landings, from six attempts. The failure was [[Apollo 13]], which was forced to abort after an oxygen tank in the service module exploded whilst in flight, crippling the spacecraft. The crew made a [[free return trajectory]] around The Moon, and safely returned to [[Earth]], having used ''Aquarius'', the Lunar Module, as a lifeboat.
The final three missions carried a Lunar Rover, to allow the astronauts to cover more ground. All missions to The Moon, plus [[Apollo 9]], were launched by the largest manned launch vehicle ever built, the [[Saturn V]].

After the last Moon landing, [[Apollo 17]], surplus equiptment was used for two more projects. The first, [[Skylab]], was America's first, and to date only, space station. It was made from the [[S-IVb|second stage]] of a Saturn 1b rocket, (commonly confused for the third stage of a Saturn V, as the two were identical) which was placed into earth orbit by the last Saturn V in [[1973]]. Over the next two years, three crews flew Apollo spacecraft to the station, and despite serious malfunctions with the station, caused by the forces involved at launch, and an [[RCS]] malfunction on the second manned flight, these were sucessful. Despite attempts to reboost it for future use by the [[Space Shuttle]], Skylab re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up in [[1979]]. The other project was the ASTP, or [[Apollo-Soyuz test project]], which involved the [[rendezvous]] and [[docking]] of an Apollo CSM with a soviet [[Soyuz]] spacecraft, in orbit. It was the last flight of '''Apollo''', and it is considered to have demonstrated that the Soyuz - which is still in use today - was inferior to the '''Apollo'''.

The '''Apollo''' spacecraft was made up of three modules, the command module, or CM, housed the astronauts, the service module (SM) contained life support systems, and the engine that would take the spacecraft in and out of Lunar Orbit. Collectively, these two modules were known as the CSM. All missions except Apollos 7, 8, ASTP, and Skylab, carried a Lunar Module, or LM as well. This was a two-man lander, designed to transport the astronauts to the Moon's surface, and bring them back again. As mentioned above, on Apollo 13, the LM was used as a lifeboat, after the faliure of the CSM.

== Addons ==
*[[NASSP]]
*[[Saturn V|CVEL Saturn V]]
*[[ASTP]]


[[Category:historic spacecraft]]