It all started with STS-1, launched on April 12, 1981, just twenty years to the day after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. The Saturn IB rocket was used to test the new Apollo capsule in Earth orbit. When the first part ran out of fuel, it dropped away from the other and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. It was about as tall as a 22-story building. The first flights used the smaller Saturn I rocket. Two types of rockets were used for the Apollo program. This spacecraft carried astronauts from orbit around the moon to the moon’s surface, then back into orbit. The crew area had about as much room as a car.Īnother spacecraft, the Lunar Module, was used for landing on the moon. The astronauts had room to move around inside the spacecraft. It was larger than the spacecraft used in the Mercury and Gemini programs. The astronauts rode in the Command Module on the way to the moon and back. It was a capsule with room for three astronauts. NASA designed the Apollo Command Module for this program. What Spacecraft Were Used for the Apollo Program? They collected moon rocks to bring back to Earth.

The astronauts conducted scientific research there. The last moon landing was in 1972.Ī total of 12 astronauts walked on the moon. The first moon landing took place in 1969. The first Apollo flight happened in 1968. Six of the other seven flights landed on the moon. The first four flights tested the equipment used in the Apollo Program.

Apollo was the NASA space program that produced a total of 11 spaceflights and moon landings. Apollo was not the first, but was definitely, one of the most memorable.

I would like to begin with the Apollo spacecraft. Let us take a look at some of the spacecraft designs from the past and some that are already being built for the near future. I like to think that most of us would love to be taken for an amazing journey on a huge spacecraft, starship or UFO one day. It was these movies featuring super massive star cruisers that the piqued my imagination as a child. When most people hear the word spacecraft they often think of famous movies like Star Wars, or Star Trek.

Spaceship designs