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The Apollo Space Program: Mission to the Moon By: Melissa Robertson—Daniel Jenkins Academy

Summary: In this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the background and time sequence of

each Apollo space mission that would allowed the United States to surpass the Soviets in getting a man to the moon and safely returning him home to earth. Students will research each Apollo Mission to obtain necessary information to create the class size timeline.

Objectives: SS.A.1.3.1 – Understands how patterns, chronology, sequencing and the identification of historical periods are influenced by frames and reference. SS.A.1.3.2 – Knows the value of primary and secondary sources. SS.A.2.3.2 – Knows major historical events. SS.A.4.3.3 – Understands the impact of significant people and ideas.

US History Time Period: Cold War, Kennedy/Johnson Administration 1963-1972

Background Information: The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the Command and Lunar Modules, and did not return lunar data. Apollos 8 and 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but also returned photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and

solar wind experiments.1

Grade Level: 8th

to 11th grade U.S. History

This lesson is set for an 8th grade U.S. History class. It may be modified for use in a higher grade level.

Materials Needed: Timeline of the Apollo Program—for teacher reference of the overall project Poster Paper or Bulletin Board paper Markers/Colored Pencils Computers for research Construction Paper

Lesson Time: 135 minutes total.

Lesson Procedures: Begin the lesson by introducing the Apollo Space Program and its overall

mission (see background). Students will need to be placed in groups based on the Apollo Mission numbers. These are Apollo 1, Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 13, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17. There were no missions that held the name Apollo 2 or 3 and Apollo 4-6 were unmanned missions. If you have a small class you will need to give each group more than one Apollo Mission in order to complete the entire timeline for each class. Next, advise the students that they will need to find the information on the Apollo checklist (see below) to properly complete their mission poster for the timeline. Go over the Checklist to make sure there are no questions then spend any remaining class time of day 1 letting the students’ research information for their timeline poster.

1 (NASA)

Day 2—Allow students to use this class period to complete their Apollo checklist and create their poster that represents their researched information. Remind students that they must represent their mission(s) on individual sheets of construction paper. Monitor your students’ progress to determine whether more time will be needed to research and design their timeline poster. Day 3—Students should be finishing or finished with their timeline poster representing their assigned Apollo Mission(s). Ask each group of students to give a short presentation of the information gathered off of their checklist worksheet and show the class their poster. Next, have the students place the posters in chronological order and if possible, display in class.

Research Sites: I recommend the following websites for students to use in finding the necessary information on their Apollo Checklist Worksheets.

• http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html --NASA/Kennedy Space Center Page

• http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm --National Air & Space Museum

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/ --NASA Human Spaceflight History Site

Assessment: DBQ—“Mission to the Moon: The Apollo Space Program”

Works Cited: NASA. Space.com. 17 July 1999. 25 May 2009

<http://www.space.com/news/a11_manflights.html>.

NASA. The Apollo Program (1963-1972). 25 May 2009

<http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html>.

Apollo Mission Checklist—Group Names___________________________________

Apollo Mission #:_______________ Apollo Crew Members:_________________________________________________________________ Mission Objective: ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

What was the launch date of this mission?__________________________________________________

When did the crew return to earth?________________________________________________________

How long were they in orbit?_____________________________________________________________

Name one activity of the mission._________________________________________________________

Did this mission land on the moon? If yes, where? If not, how did this mission aid in getting future missions to the

moon?_____________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Print off a copy of the Mission Insignia to place on your poster.

Apollo Mission Checklist—Group Names___________________________________

Apollo Mission #:_______________ Apollo Crew Members:_________________________________________________________________ Mission Objective: ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

What was the launch date of this mission?__________________________________________________

When did the crew return to earth?________________________________________________________

How long were they in orbit?_____________________________________________________________

Name one activity of the mission._________________________________________________________

Did this mission land on the moon? If yes, where? If not, how did this mission aid in getting future missions to the

moon?_____________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Print off a copy of the Mission Insignia to place on your poster.

Timeline of the Apollo Space Program2

The 12 Apollo missions that involved astronauts are described below. The names in parentheses are those of the Command Module and the Lunar Module used on the mission.

Apollo 1 - Ended in tragedy January 27, 1967.

Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White, Roger B. Chaffee were killed in a command module fire on the launch pad during a launch simulation at the Kennedy Space Center . Originally known as Apollo 204 and scheduled for launch February 21, 1967, the mission would have been the first manned Apollo mission. The tragedy prompted NASA to suspend Saturn 1B launches for almost a year and led to a major redesign of the Apollo Command Module (CM).

In the spring of 1967, NASA's associate administrator for manned space flight announced that the mission originally scheduled for Grissom, White and Chaffee would be known as Apollo 1. He said that the first Saturn V launch, scheduled for November 1967 would be known as Apollo 4. No missions or flights were ever designated Apollo 2 and 3.

Apollo 7 - October 11-12, 1968

Launch vehicle: Saturn 1B

Crew: Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, R. Walter Cunningham.

Duration: 10 days, 20 hours with, 163 Earth orbits.

Milestones: First manned Command Service Module operations in the lunar landing program. First live TV transmission from manned spacecraft.

Apollo 8 - December 21-27, 1968

Launch vehicle: Saturn V

Crew: Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., William A. Anders.

Duration: 6 days, 3 hours. In lunar orbit 20 hours, with 10 orbits.

Milestones: First manned lunar orbital mission. Support facilities tested. Photographs taken of Earth and Moon. Live TV broadcasts.

Apollo 9 (Gumdrop and Spider) March 3 -13, 1969


Crew: James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, Russell L. Schweickart.

Duration: 10 days, 1 hour with 152 orbits.

First manned flight of all lunar hardware in Earth orbit. Schweickart performed a 37 minutes EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). Human reactions to space and weightlessness tested. First manned flight of lunar module (LM).

2 (NASA)

Apollo 10 (Charlie Brown and Snoopy) May 18-26, 1969


Crew: Eugene A. Cernan, John W. Young, Thomas P. Stafford.

Duration: 8 days, 3 minutes. In lunar orbit 61.6 hours, with 31 orbits.

Milestones: Dress rehearsal for Moon landing. First manned CSM/LM (Command and Service Module/ Lunar Module) operations in cislunar and lunar environment. Simulation of first lunar landing profile. LM taken within 50,000 feet (15,243 meters) of lunar surface. First live color TV from space. LM ascent stage jettisoned in orbit.

Apollo 11 (Columbia and Eagle) July 16-24, 1969


Crew: Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.

Duration: 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes. In lunar orbit 59.5 hours, with 30 orbits.

Landing site: Sea of Tranquility (0.71 degrees North, 23.63 degrees East).

Milestones: First manned lunar landing mission and lunar surface EVA. "HOUSTON, TRANQUILITY BASE HERE. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED."--July 20, 1969. One EVA of 2 hours, 31 minutes. Flag and instruments deployed; Unveiled plaque on the LM descent stage with inscription: "Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We Came In Peace For All Mankind." Lunar surface stay time 21.6 hours; LM ascent stage left in lunar orbit. Gathered 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of material.

Apollo 12 (Yankee Clipper and Intrepid) November 14-24, 1969


Crew: Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Alan L. Bean

Duration: 10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes. In lunar orbit 89 hours with 45 orbits. Lunar surface stay-time, 31.5 hours.

Landing site: Ocean of Storms (3.04 degrees South, 23.42 degrees West).

Milestones: Retrieved parts of the unmanned Surveyor 3, which had landed on the Moon in April 1967. Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) deployed. LM descent stage impacted on Moon. Gathered 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of lunar material.

Apollo 13 (Odyssey and Aquarius) April 11-17, 1970


Crew: James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. Fred W. Haise, Jr.

Duration: 5 days, 22.9 hours.

Milestones: Third lunar landing attempt. Mission aborted after rupture of service module oxygen tank. Classed as "successful failure" because of experience in rescuing crew. Spent upper stage successfully impacted on the Moon.

Apollo 14 (Kitty Hawk and Antares) January 31 - Febraury 9, 1971


Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, Edgar D. Mitchell

Duration: 9 days

Landing site: Fra Mauro (3.65 degrees south, 17.48 degrees West).

Milestones: ALSEP and other instruments deployed. Lunar surface stay-time, 33.5 hours; 67 hours in lunar orbit, with 34 orbits. 2 S (Extra-Vehicular Activities) of 9 hours, 25 minutes. Third stage impacted on Moon. Gathered 94 pounds. (42 kilograms) of lunar material using hand cart for first time to transport rocks.

Apollo 15 (Endeavor and Falcon) July 26-August 7, 1971


Crew: David R. Scott, James B. Irwin, Alfred M. Worden

Duration: 12 days, 17 hours, 12 minutes. In lunar orbit 145 hours with 74 orbits.

Lunar surface staytime: 66.9 hours.

Landing site: Hadley-Apennine region (26.08 degrees North, 3.66 degrees East) near Apennine Mountains.

Milestones: 3 EVAs of 10 hours, 36 minutes. Worden performed 38 minutes EVA on way back to Earth. First to carry orbital sensors in service module of CSM. ALSEP deployed. Scientific payload landed on Moon doubled. Improved spacesuits gave increased mobility and stay-time. Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), electric-powered, 4-wheel drive car, traversed total 17 miles (27.9 km) Small sub-satellite left in lunar orbit for first time. Gathered 169 pounds (6.6 kilograms) of lunar material.

Apollo 16 (Casper and Orion) April 16-27, 1972


Crew: John W. Young, Thomas K. Mattingly II, Charles M. Duke, Jr.

Duration: 11 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes. In lunar orbit 126 hours, with 64 orbits.

Lunar surface stay-time: 71 hours.

Landing site: Descartes Highlands (8.97 degrees South, 15.51 degrees East).

Milestones: First study of highlands area. Selected surface experiments deployed, ultraviolet camera/spectrograph used for first time on Moon, and LRV used for second time. Mattingly performed a one-hour in-flight EVA. Gathered 213 pounds (95.8 kilograms) of lunar material.

(NASA)Apollo 17 (America and Challenger) December 7-19, 1972


Crew: Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald B. Evans, Harrison H. Schmitt

Duration: 12 days, 13 hours, 52 minutes. In lunar orbit 17 hours.

Lunar surface stay-time: 75 hours.

Landing site: Taurus-Littrow (20.16 degrees North, 30.77 degrees East), highlands and valley area.

Milestones: Three EVAs totaled 22 hours, 4 minutes. Evans performed trans-Earth EVA lasting 1 hour 6 minutes. Last lunar landing mission. First scientist-astronaut to land on Moon - Schmitt. Sixth automated research station set up. LRV traverse total 18.9 miles (30.5 km). Gathered 243 pounds (110.4 kilograms) of lunar material.

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