“We Choose To Go To The Moon”

John F Kennedy

The dream of the Apollo missions began on May 25th 1961. In a speech to Congress, President John F Kennedy announced that NASA’s goal was to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth. The full speech itself is available here, though the most important part of the speech for NASA was the following:

“… we choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things. Not because they easy, but because they are hard… because that challenge is one we are will to accept, one we will not postpone and one we intend to win…”

The entire speech was based on the space programme, and Kennedy’s call for it to be better funded. It proved to be the catalyst for the Space Race. You can watch the speech on this YouTube video:

The speech became known as the “We Choose To Go To The Moon” speech, and it signalled the beginning of the Space Race. Many have speculated that landing on the moon was as much political as it was scientific, and there is some truth in that – beating Russia to the moon became a NASA obsession. Kennedy set the goal of “in this decade” – meaning before 1970. He’d thrown the challenge down to NASA: they had nine years.

At that point, Project Mercury had been in operation for two years. (For further reading on Project Mercury, this is a fantastic site.) Project Mercury had three main objectives:

• To orbit the earth in a manned spacecraft.
• To investigate how a human being can function in space.
• To return both spacecraft and astronaut back to earth safely.

The first manned mission of Project Mercury had blasted off only 20 days before the famous speech. Astronaut Alan B Shephard became the first American in space, piloting Freedom 7 for 15 minutes and 28 seconds. Suddenly, President Kennedy decided to throw the gauntlet down and challenged NASA to put a man on the moon not nine years later – it’s fair to say that, while excited, many at NASA were worried.

This, of course, is the basis of many of the conspiracy theories, and it is undeniably true. People theorise that America needed to win the Space Race, as they were competing in it with Russia – their enemies in the Cold War. Russia already had one ‘first’; they had put Yuri Gagarin into space on April 12th 1961, nearly a month before Shephard’s flight.

Just because NASA needed it for America didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. NASA knew they had a huge task, and over the next few years they overtook Russia in the list of “firsts” – eventually, of course, cultimating with the lunar landing of Apollo 11.

Project Gemini

Project Mercury was completed in May 1963, after six manned flights. Over the course of the Mercury project, NASA had established man’s duration capabilities in flight, orbiting earth, carried out several engineering experiments and – most importantly – returned man and craft safely to earth.

NASA had made a good start, but there was much to do before a moon landing could even be considered. Following Project Mercury was Project Gemini; as the name would suggest, Gemini would require two astronauts to fly the mission, a gradual progression cultimating in the three-man flights of Apollo.

The Project Gemini insignia

In total, Project Gemini would launch 10 manned flights between 1965 and 1966. Gemini was essentially the precursor to Apollo, as it would test all of the manoevres required to land on the moon with a smaller craft. Gemini was not just about accomplishing these requirements, but perfecting them. This included docking space craft together, space craft rendevous, extended space flight and a variety of other complex procedures that would “set up” the Apollo missions.

Gemini was, by and large, successful. During the programme, NASA accomplished all they needed to, including the first American space walk.

Project Gemini introduced astronauts that would become legends; it was on Gemini that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell and Dave Scott all made their first (and in some cases, second) flights.

With Gemini’s conclusion in 1966, focus turned to Apollo – the missions designed to land a man on the moon.

The Apollo Missions

The Apollo missions insignia

It is easy – especially for the conspiracy theorists – to think that Kennedy made his speech and then bang, nine years later man was on the moon. Yet before the Apollo programme even began, NASA had conducted 16 manned space flights and numerous unmanned tests and missions.

The missions before the historic Apollo 11 were designed to test the Apollo space craft and perfect understanding before the Eagle was set to land.

The Apollo space craft were very different from the Mercury and Gemini craft. They were, in fact, two different space craft that could be linked together – a command service module (CSM) and lunar module (LM). They were still, however, incredibly small – though unlike their predecessors, there was room inside for the astronauts to move. The interior of the lunar modules, however, was still roughly only the size of two telephone booths.

The command service module and lunar module, which could fly as one and separately.

These crafts were named separately, then the entire project mission and call sign was named under the Apollo banner. For example, on the Apollo 11 landing, the CSM was named Columbia while the LM was, of course, the Eagle.

The blueprint for the Saturn V

Everything up to the landing was to be simulated in the Apollo missions before number 11. Like Mercury and Gemini, the Apollo missions would not be entirely manned; while there was an Apollo 17, several of the flights were unmanned tests.

The Apollo missions also saw the debut of the Saturn V rocket, the use of which continued after the Apollo programmes in the subsequent Skylab flights. The Saturn V was a beast of a rocket, and only a small part of the recognisable crafts during launch was actually the space craft.

For example, in this famous photograph of Apollo 11′s lift off, the red line indicates where the space craft ends; the rest is purely the Saturn V boosters, an example of just how much thrust was needed to power out of earth gravity:

The Apollo missions were three man flights, one more than the previous Gemini missions. These three roles were clearly defined, and are listed below in order of “importance”:

• Mission Commander. The overall chief of the mission, the Mission Commander was also the first to step out onto the lunar surface following a landing. Neil Armstrong was the commander for Apollo 11.
• Command Module Pilot. The man who would be “the loneliest in human kind”; the Command Module Pilot would remain with the command module during a lunar landing, orbiting the moon. He was also the primary pilot for this part of the spacecraft. Michael Collins was the command module pilot for Apollo 11.
• Lunar Module Pilot. The name is something of a misnomer, as the Lunar Module Pilot never actually flew the Lunar Module; that was the Commander’s role (with one notable exception, when Commander Pete Conrad allowed his Lunar Modile Pilot, Al Bean, to fly the LM during lunar orbit; a treat for his friend, mostly). The Lunar Module Pilot helped land the Lunar Module, and also acted as the mission photographer. The lunar module pilot for Apollo 11 was Buzz Aldrin.

The Men Who Flew The Missions

Nowadays, one can strive to be an astronaut from early years – but in the days of the Apollo missions, no such job existed for youngsters. The astronauts of the Apollo missions were primarily recruited from the Armed Forces, and most had extensive test pilot experience.

The astronauts joined NASA in “groups”, essentially – recruitment processes. The first brought in were the Mercury 7, which as one would surmise comprised of seven astronauts who flew the Mercury missions (Deke Slayton, one of the Mercury 7, was grounded due to a heart problem and never flew Mercury, Gemini or Apollo) – the group became known as the Original Seven. Recognisable astronauts such as John Glenn, Alan B Shephard and Gus Grissom were among the Original Seven – some of whom also flew on Apollo or Gemini.

The Original 7 astronauts: Schirra, Slayton, Glenn, Carpenter, Shephard, Grissom and Cooper.

The second group was referred to as the “New Nine”, and comprised of nine astronauts. It is from this group that the most instantly recognisable names come; Neil Armstrong, Pete Conrad, Ed White (first American to space walk) and Jim Lovell were “New Nine” members. The New Nine flew Gemini, Apollo, and beyond into the Skylab programme.

The third recruitment was larger, comprising of 14 astronauts. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were part of this group, as were fellow moonwalkers Al Bean, Eugene Cernan and Dave Scott. These 14 astronauts also flew Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions – Al Bean was the last of the group to get his first flight, when he was Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 12.

Following the end of the Apollo missions, many of the astronauts continued into the Skylab programme and others continued working for their Armed Force (the majority of the recruitments were from the Navy and Airforce). Most, however, have continued their association with the Apollo missions; Dave Scott (Apollo 15), for example, consulted on the HBO series From The Earth To The Moon, while Jim Lovell (Apollo 8, Apollo 13) worked on the Apollo 13 film as well as his book on the same mission, Lost Moon.

Programme Cancellation

Apollo 17 was the last of the Apollo missions, though up to 20 were scheduled. The programme was cancelled following budget cuts, and NASA moved on to Skylab, which did not focus on lunar landings. Eugene Cernan of Apollo 17 currently holds the title of “Last Man on the Moon”.

Eugene 'Gene' Cernan on the lunar surface, Apollo 17

The Apollo Legacy

Although humankind has not attempted a lunar landing since Apollo 17, the legacy of the missions lives on. The story of the landings continues to inspire, and will do so for generations to come. I, for example, was born 15 years after the final flight – yet the Apollo story captured me in such a way that I created this website to refute those who claim the landings didn’t happen. The landings were the catalyst for an extensive space programme that may one day help this planet save itself from annihilation due to a comet or meteor strike, and inspired thousands of children to believe that they could shoot for the stars – and get there.

A lunar landing will probably never be attempted again in my lifetime; there is a sense of been there, done that. Yet one day man will return to the moon, and there is no better finish for this than the words of one of the Apollo astronauts themselves:

“When will we go back… and who will that be?” - Jim Lovell, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13