Apollo programme

The Apollo program was NASA’s third human spaceflight programme. A total of 11 spaceflights were carried out, the first Apollo flight was in 1968, with the first Moon landing shortly after in 1969 and the last in 1972. Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to the Moon, it circled but did not land on surface. Apollo 11 was the first mission to land on the Moon, the crew included Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

8 really, really big books about space

Celebrate the absolute vastness of the cosmos with some of the best books about space, which demand a galaxy-sized bookshelf to store them on.
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Michael Collins: Apollo 11 command module pilot

A modest and thoughtful man, he once said that “...the main qualification for flying to the Moon was to have been born at the right time, 1930, give or take a year or two.”
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What does lunar dust smell like?

Asked by: Philip Welply, St Albans
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Illusions, magic and the paranormal with prof Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman reveals what studying illusions can tell us about the human mind, why magicians make great psychologists and how you can make your own luck.
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"We never got to a point where we said, ‘Well, we’re going to die’”

Surviving crew members Jim Lovell and Fred Haise never made it to the Moon but hailed the teamwork that enabled them to return safely to Earth.
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What happened to Apollo 13?

We talk to BBC broadcaster Kevin Fong about the second series of his award-winning podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon, which follows the Apollo 13 disaster.
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Mathematician and NASA pioneer dies age 101

Katherine Johnson calculated rocket trajectories and Earth orbits by hand during NASA's early years and was portrayed in the film Hidden Figures.
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Everything you ever wanted to know about the Apollo programme

In space, nobody can hear your questions – good job we can here on Earth…
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Why we need to go back to the Moon

It’s been nearly half a century since humans last ventured beyond Earth’s orbit. But resolve is growing for a return to the Moon.
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50 beautiful pictures of the Moon

Astronauts on the Apollo Moon missions were equipped with a Swedish Hasselblad camera - here are some of the amazing photos they took from their journeys to the Moon.
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How 22kg of lunar rocks changed our understanding of how the Moon formed

The purpose of going to the Moon wasn’t just to prove that we could. Apollo 11’s crew was also tasked with collecting the first samples from the surface of another world in the hope that they could help us answer some fundamental questions regarding its and our origin.
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16.50 GMT, 24 July 1969: Splashdown

After enduring the scorching heat generated by falling through Earth’s atmosphere, the Apollo 11 mission officially ended when the command module Columbia came to rest on the waters of the North Pacific.
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Is it true that Apollo Moon rock samples went missing?

You'd think we'd try to keep hold of something after making a 700,000km round trip to get it.
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Apollo 11 astronauts' exploits on the Moon

With only hours to spend on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin had no time to waste. So shortly after the drama of the landing, the astronauts began to explore…
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BBC presenters recall the night of the Moon landing

James Burke and Michael Charlton, two presenters involved in the BBC broadcasts recall what it was like to witness the moment we set foot on the Moon.
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Who was Tecwyn Roberts, NASA’s unknown Welsh hero?

Tudur Owen, the presenter of new BBC programme Rocket Man, tells History Extra about Tec Roberts, a “humble and inspiring” man who earned the love and respect of NASA’s greats.
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Seconds from disaster

After a successful launch and a smooth journey to the Moon, Apollo 11 looked to be proceeding according to plan. But just as the lunar module closed in on its intended landing site, alarms began to sound.
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Inside the rocket that launched Apollo 11 to the Moon

Taller, heavier and more powerful than anything that had come before, the rocket that blasted the Apollo 11 crew towards the Moon was a behemoth. But only a tiny proportion of it would actually be making the full round-trip
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Why is the Moon landing still relevant 50 years on?

To mark the anniversary of the Apollo Program’s greatest success, we ask the host of the new BBC podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon why it was so important.
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How NASA prepared for the first moonwalk

A lot of practice and preparation went into that one small step.
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Apollo 11: the story of the Moon landing

The Apollo 11 mission saw humans walk on the surface of the Moon for the first time. This is how it happened.
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12 unique mission patches for each Apollo crew

Beginning in tragedy and ending in triumph, the Apollo missions are the pinnacle of mankind’s space adventure. Every Apollo crew has a different story to tell and its own unique mission patch.
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Where did the Apollo astronauts land on the Moon?

Where did the Apollo astronauts land, and what did they do on the surface of the Moon? Sue Nelson explores what the Moon-walking astronauts got up to.
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Buzz Aldrin: Apollo 11 lunar module pilot

But for the design of the lunar module’s interior and position of the spacecraft’s door, Aldrin might have been the first man on the Moon.
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