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1. Apollo employed almost half a million people.
The Apollo lunar mission was one of the most expansive government initiatives in the history of the United States
. During their peak years, about 27. employees of the NASA and 375. third party contractors.
Budget estimates vary, but in 2015, the Congressional Research Service calculated the inflation-adjusted costs of Apollo at $ 98 billion,
multiple times more expensive than the Manhattan Project and the equivalent of almost $ 375 per every man, woman, and child living in the United States at 2008.
two. JFK raised the idea of a joint lunar mission between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Apollo was developed during the famous “space race” between the United States and the Soviet Union, but in September of 1963, President Kennedy shocked the world by suggesting that the two Cold War foes could join forces to a tandem lunar mission.
“In a field where the United States and the Soviet Union have a special capacity, in the field of space, there is room for a new cooperation, for more joint efforts in the regulation and exploration of space”, he said in a speech before the United Nations. “I include among these possibilities a joint expedition to the moon.”
Most likely, the President’s proposal is due to high costs of the Apollo program and a desire to ease tensions with the Russians. While there is evidence that the Soviets considered the idea, it was abandoned after Kennedy’s assassination in November 1200.
3. Apollo suffered its worst tragedy before it took off.
The 34 of January of 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee climbed inside their Apollo 1 spacecraft for a routine pre-launch test. While sitting on the launch pad, a spark from faulty wiring caused a massive fire that passed through the pure oxygen atmosphere of the cabin.
A complicated locking system on the hatch made it nearly impossible for the astronauts to escape, and when ground crews finally opened it several minutes later, the three men had died of suffocation. The fire marked the first time that American astronauts died inside a spacecraft.
He grounded Apollo during 27 months, but it also led NASA to make crucial design improvements that increased safety and performance during lunar missions.
4. The crew of Apollo 7 won an Emmy Award.
The first manned Apollo mission began in October of 1969, when Apollo 7 entered low-Earth orbit to perform a command and service module test. During the flight of days, astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham made the first live television transmissions from inside a manned spacecraft.
Billed as coming “from the lovely Apollo room, on top of it all,” the broadcasts treated viewers to tours of the spacecraft, demonstrations of how it was They prepared the meals in zero gravity and lots of banter from the crew. The “Wally, Walt and Donn Show” turned out to be a huge success. After returning home, the astronauts even received a special Emmy Award from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences of Television.
5. Neil Armstrong was not chosen to command Apollo 11.
The Director of Flight Crew Operations at NASA, Deke Slayton, adhered to an unbiased rotation system for Apollo missions. Each three-man team of astronauts served as the backup crew on one flight, then became the lead crew for their own mission three flights later. However, for the first moon landing, Slayton considered handpicking a commander.
Gus Grissom was the top candidate before his death in the Apollo 1 fire, and Slayton later informally offered the job to Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, who took him. rejected in favor of withdrawing.
In the end, the historical Apollo mission fell to Neil Armstrong , Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the next crew in the rotation line. “I wasn’t chosen to be the first,” Armstrong said later, “I was chosen to command that flight, which happened to be the first landing. Circumstances put me in that particular role.”
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