Project Apollo Mission Patches

Project Apollo was America's third manned space program. It consisted of 12 manned mission from 1967 to 1972. The program began on a tragic note as a fire claimed the lives of 3 astronauts during a pre-launch test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft on the launch pad. Apollo 8 became the first manned flight to the Moon. The highlight of the program was the historic Moon landing of Apollo 11. On July 21, 1969, the entire world watched as Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the surface of the Moon. Tragedy struck again nearly a year later as an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft. Fortunately the crew survived and returned safely to Earth, but their Moon landing has to be sacrificed. A total of 6 missions landed successfully on the Moon, ending with Apollo 17 on December 11, 1972. A few years later, an Apollo launch vehicle was used for the historic docking of an American and Russian spacecraft during the Apollo-Soyuz mission. The Apollo program was an incredible success for the American space program, bringing us one step close to exploring the planets.