Editing Apollo program (section)

===Crewed development missions===
<imagemap>
File:Apollo manned development missions insignia.png|thumb|right|upright=1.15|Apollo crewed development mission patches. Click on a patch to read the main article about that mission.|alt=Composite image of six crewed Apollo development mission patches, from Apollo{{nbsp}}1 to Apollo 11.
rect    0   0  595 600 [[Apollo 1|Apollo 1 unsuccessful first crewed CSM test]]
rect  596   0 1376 600 [[Apollo 7|Apollo 7 first crewed CSM test]]
rect 1377   0 2076 600 [[Apollo 8|Apollo 8 first crewed flight to the Moon]]
rect    0 601  595 1200 [[Apollo 9|Apollo 9 crewed Earth orbital LM test]]
rect  596 601 1376 1200 [[Apollo 10|Apollo 10 crewed lunar orbital LM test]]
rect 1377 601 2076 1200 [[Apollo 11|Apollo 11 first crewed Moon landing]]
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[[Apollo 7]], launched from LC-34 on October 11, 1968, was the C{{nbsp}}mission, crewed by [[Wally Schirra|Schirra]], [[Donn F. Eisele|Eisele]], and [[Walter Cunningham|Cunningham]]. It was an 11-day Earth-orbital flight which tested the CSM systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo7.html|title=Mission Objective|date=July 8, 2015 |access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref>

[[Apollo 8]] was planned to be the D mission in December 1968, crewed by McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart, launched on a Saturn{{nbsp}}V instead of two Saturn IBs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo8.html#.V4BhBRUrJeV|title=Mission Objective|date=July 8, 2009 |access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> In the summer it had become clear that the LM would not be ready in time. Rather than waste the Saturn V on another simple Earth-orbiting mission, ASPO Manager George Low suggested the bold step of sending Apollo{{nbsp}}8 to orbit the Moon instead, deferring the D{{nbsp}}mission to the next mission in March 1969, and eliminating the E mission. This would keep the program on track. The Soviet Union had sent two tortoises, mealworms, wine flies, and other lifeforms around the Moon on September 15, 1968, aboard [[Zond 5]], and it was believed they might soon repeat the feat with human cosmonauts.<ref name="Chaikin">{{cite book |last=Chaikin |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Chaikin |title=[[A Man on the Moon]]: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts |date=1994 |publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=978-0-670-81446-6 |lccn=93048680 |ref=Chaikin}}</ref><ref name="Moon Race 1968">{{cite magazine |title=Poised for the Leap |url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844661-1,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204221712/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844661-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |access-date=December 15, 2011 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=December 6, 1968 |location=New York}}</ref> The decision was not announced publicly until successful completion of Apollo 7. Gemini veterans [[Frank Borman]] and [[Jim Lovell]], and rookie [[William Anders]] captured the world's attention by making ten lunar orbits in 20 hours, transmitting television pictures of the lunar surface on [[Christmas Eve]], and returning safely to Earth.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|loc=Ch. 11.6: [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch11-6.html "Apollo 8: The First Lunar Voyage"]. pp. 274–284}}

[[File:Apollo 11 first step.jpg|thumb|left|[[Neil Armstrong]] descends the LM's ladder in preparation for the first steps on the lunar surface, as televised live on July 20, 1969.]]
The following March, LM flight, rendezvous and docking were successfully demonstrated in Earth orbit on [[Apollo 9]], and Schweickart tested the full lunar [[Apollo a7l|EVA suit]] with its [[portable life support system]] (PLSS) outside the LM.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-018A|title=Apollo 9|website= NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> The F mission was successfully carried out on [[Apollo 10]] in May 1969 by Gemini veterans [[Thomas P. Stafford]], [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] and [[Eugene Cernan]]. Stafford and Cernan took the LM to within {{convert|50000|ft|km|sigfig=2}} of the lunar surface.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/Ap10.html|title=Apollo 10|website=NASA JSC|access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref>

The G mission was achieved on [[Apollo 11]] in July 1969 by an all-Gemini veteran crew consisting of [[Neil Armstrong]], [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]]. Armstrong and Aldrin performed the first landing at the [[Mare Tranquillitatis|Sea of Tranquility]] at 20:17:40 [[UTC]] on July 20, 1969. They spent a total of 21 hours, 36 minutes on the surface, and spent 2{{nbsp}}hours, 31 minutes outside the spacecraft,<ref name="statrefeva"/> walking on the surface, taking photographs, collecting material samples, and deploying automated scientific instruments, while continuously sending black-and-white television back to Earth. The astronauts returned safely on July 24.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html|title=Apollo 11 Mission Overview|website=NASA|date=April 17, 2015|access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.|sign=[[Neil Armstrong]], just after stepping onto the Moon's surface<ref name="Snopes">{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/quotes/onesmall.asp |title=One Small Misstep: Neil Armstrong's First Words on the Moon |last1=Mikkelson |first1=Barbara |last2=Mikkelson |first2=David P. |date=October 2006 |work=Snopes.com |publisher=[[Snopes.Com|Urban Legends Reference Pages]] |access-date=September 19, 2009}}</ref>}}