Apollo Program : Tragedy to Triumph

[dexter]

This video looks at the dramatic history of NASA's Apollo Program, from President Kennedy's ambitious deadline for a manned lunar landing, the tragic disaster of Apollo 1 which nearly ended the entire program, to the triumph of Apollo 8's first orbit of the Moon, paving the way for an attempted landing in 1969.

 

[dexter]

We explore the dramatic story of NASA's Apollo Program, beginning with President Kennedy's ambitious deadline for a lunar landing in response to Soviet success with Sputnik and cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin. After groundbreaking success with the Mercury and Gemini missions, NASA was rocked by the Apollo 1 disaster, in which three crew members were killed in an accidental fire. But NASA recovered, overhauling its designs and methods, to achieve a successful manned launch with Apollo 7. Apollo 8, the first mission to ride the mighty Saturn V rocket, was also a complete success, culminating in the first manned orbit of the moon. But before a moon landing could be attempted, NASA needed to test the world's first true 'spacecraft' - the Lunar Module, as well as identify what risks the moon's unexpected 'mascons' posed to future Apollo missions. But in 1969, everything was in place for the Apollo Program to make history, with the first lunar landing attempt - a mission which would test the skills of crew-members Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to their limit.

 

[dexter]

We explore the dramatic story of NASA's Apollo Program, beginning with President Kennedy's ambitious deadline for a lunar landing after the Soviet Union took the lead in the 'Space Race'. Following the success of Apollo 11, and the fulfilment of Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon, questions hung over the future of the Apollo Program. With declining public interest in Moon missions, and government funding slashed, NASA focused on scientific research. But the final phase of the Program is best remembered for the dramatic near-disaster of Apollo 13, in which the ingenuity of astronauts and Mission Control was pushed to the limit.