20 Facts About the Apollo Space Missions That Most Americans Don’t Know

Few things arouse more pride in American history and culture than the Apollo space program, but how much do you actually know about it? We found 20 facts about the Apollo program that are equally interesting and easy to understand.

For this list, we used information published by NASA and the U.S. government that is easily accessible in online databases. A mixture of politics, science, financial details, and history make this a list of a few things most people don’t know about our most famous space program.

#1 Apollo Was the First Space Success for the US

Until the launch of the Apollo program, the United States was constantly being outdone by the Soviet Union when it came to space travel and space technology milestones. The original idea for the Apollo program began under President Eisenhower but was finally launched with President Kennedy’s goal to land a man on the moon and bring him home again. A goal sufficiently daring enough to give the United States enough time to create the technology required to accomplish it before the USSR.

#2 Twelve People Walked on the Moon in the Apollo Program

In total, six Apollo spaceflights landed on the moon successfully, letting 12 men walk on the surface. This includes Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt.

#3 Apollo is The Only Program to Send People Beyond Earth’s Orbit

No space program from any other nation before or since the Apollo program has sent human beings beyond Earth’s orbit. All soviet cosmonauts, all Space Shuttle missions, and all other astronauts who have been to space since the Apollo program have remained in Earth’s orbit.

#4 Apollo 8 Was the First to Orbit Another Celestial Body

Apollo 8 was the first crewed craft to leave Earth’s gravitational influence. It was also the first human craft to reach and orbit the moon, making ten orbits in total before returning to Earth. This made the crew the first humans in history to see the far side of the moon and to witness an Earthrise. This was also the first human spaceflight to launch from the brand-new Kennedy Space Center.

#5 Apollo Brought Back 842 Pounds of Lunar Samples

Each of the six missions that landed on the moon brought back samples of soil and rocks for study. In total, the astronauts managed to collect 2,200 samples of rocks and soil, weighing 840 pounds. These samples have been processed into more than 110,000 individual cataloged items, some of which were made famous by their study and theft.

Some rock samples included previously undiscovered minerals. One of them was Armalcolite, which was named after the three astronauts of Apollo 11.

#6 Apollo was the Last-Ditch Effort to Beat the Soviets

President Kennedy campaigned on promises to beat the USSR in missile defense and space exploration – areas in which it was severely lagging. Yet, after taking office, Kennedy was reluctant to allocate the resources necessary to improve the space program due to its enormous budget. Even after Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly in space, Kennedy refused to make a strong response. With the technology and resources of the time, the U.S. would have remained playing catch-up.

It wasn’t until May 1961 that Kennedy decided that a moon mission gave the U.S. enough time to catch up to Soviet technology.

#7 Only One American had Been to Space When Kennedy Announced Apollo

Astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American to travel to space on May 5, 1961, less than a month before Kennedy announced the plan to land on the moon. The United States had not yet sent any astronauts into Earth’s orbit and many scientists at NASA doubted that the U.S. could even accomplish Kennedy’s goal.

#8 Kennedy Proposed a Joint US-USSR Moon Mission

By the end of 1963, the idea of the United States making it to the Moon, let alone before the USSR, led President Kennedy to propose a joint US-USSR mission to the Moon. Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev was prepared to accept the proposal before Kennedy was assassinated, causing the proposal to fall apart.

#9 The Resource Allocation Remains Unsurpassed

To land a person on the Moon required one of the most sudden and unprecedented advancements of technological advancement and human creativity. It also included the largest single commitment of resources ever made by any country during peacetime. It employed more than 400,000 people, required more than 20,000 industrial firms and universities, and cost $182 billion in 2023 dollars.

#10 Apollo Built Our Modern Space Program

Rice University donated the buildings that were converted into the brand-new Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The Canaveral launch facilities located in Florida were expanded to accommodate Apollo and the Saturn launch vehicles, and a new Launch Operations Center was built which included a Launch Control Center, the Operations and Checkout Building, and Vertical Assembly Building.

#11 The Apollo 1 Fire Led to Many of the Standard Features of Space Travel

Apollo 1 was meant to be the first crewed spaceflight of the Apollo program, but a fire during a test killed all three of the astronauts inside the command module. After the fire, NASA made several changes and improvements to the Apollo program and vehicles.

In its haste to beat the USSR to the moon, NASA had been careless in the construction and design of its vehicles. New safety protocols were created, flammable materials were replaced with self-extinguishing materials, the hatch was replaced with one that opened outward in less than five seconds, the space suit material was replaced with non-flammable fabric, and the cabin atmosphere was changed from 100% oxygen to a 60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen mixture.

#12 Apollo 7 was the First Crewed US Space Flight

Before the launch of Apollo 7, the U.S. had not sent any humans into Earth orbit. It made the first live television broadcast from a crewed space vehicle. It orbited for eleven days, testing Apollo technology and systems. There was significant tension and conflict between the astronauts and mission control, so none of the astronauts went to space again.

#13 The USSR Sent Multiple Passengers Around the Moon First

On September 15, 1968, the Soviet Union sent mealworms, flies, two tortoises, and other animals into orbit around the Moon to test the effect of the maneuver on living things. By this point, the U.S. had only completed one Earth orbit mission and had not completed sending any living things to the Moon. Yet, it decided to change the Apollo mission schedule and send Apollo 8 to orbit the Moon without completing the planned test flights, despite having no tests or even knowing what would happen, highlighting the utter disregard for human life in the quest to defeat Communism.

#14 Apollo 11 Astronauts Spent Only 2 Hours on the Moon

After landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the surface of the moon but only spent 2 hours and 31 minutes outside the lunar module. They used this time to collect samples, take pictures, and set up scientific equipment.

#15 First Words: Whoopee!

Commander Charles Conrad of Apollo 12 became the third person to walk on the moon. With his opportunity to share his first words after setting foot on the lunar surface, Pete said: “Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me.”

#16 Cutbacks Began Immediately After Apollo 11

Having accomplished its goal of beating the USSR to the moon, the U.S. government immediately began cutting NASA’s budget and scaling back the Apollo program and future space projects. It canceled Apollo 18 and Apollo 19, and Nixon was going to cancel Apollo 16 and 17 but was convinced not to.

#17 All the Flags Planted Still Remain

The remains of the Apollo program have been spotted from time to time by visiting spacecraft and Earth-based equipment. But the most surprising detail for casual fans is the fact that all of the flags planted by the astronauts on the moon were still standing except for the flag planted by Apollo 11 which had been blown over during their lift-off from the surface.

#18 Apollo Led to 1,800 Spinoff Products

As of 2015, more than 1,800 spinoff consumer and scientific products can trace their existence directly to the Apollo program and its research. This includes new fireproof materials, solar panels, digital imaging technology, new flight computer technology, cordless power tools, and heart monitors, and contributed to significant advancement in semiconductor technology, silicon circuit chips, and guidance computers.

#19 Apollo is the Largest Demonstration of Irony in History

One of President Kennedy’s goals and reasons for launching the Apollo program was to “demonstrate the superiority of the free-market system” over the Socialist and Communist systems. Yet, the United States only accomplished this through an unprecedented allocation of public funds, the social unity of thousands of people, organizations, and land, and a level of public and private coordination that had only been seen before in Communist countries.

The Economist noted the immense irony of this situation.

#20 Apollo 17 Set Several Space Records

The eleventh and final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, remains the most recent time humans set foot on the Moon and set several records upon its completion. It took the only scientist to have been to the Moon (a geologist), it set the record for longest crewed lunar landing (at 12 days and 14 hours), set the record for the longest distance traveled from the spacecraft (4.7 miles), set the record for longest time on the Moon’s surface (75 hours), set the record for the most time outside the lunar lander (22 hours and 4 minutes), brought back the biggest sample of Moon samples (245 pounds), spent the most time in lunar orbit (6 days and 4 hours), and completed the most lunar orbits (75).

Additionally, the Saturn V that carried all these astronauts throughout the Apollo program remains the biggest and most powerful rocket ever launched with the record for the largest payload capacity to reach low orbit (311,152 pounds), and is the only launch vehicle to carry humans beyond Earth’s orbit.

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