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Author
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Topic: Most important ("best") of the Apollo missions
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#204
Member Posts: 41
From:
Registered: Nov 2003
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posted 11-19-2003 09:06 PM
  
I thought it would be interesting to hear from any spaceflight veterans (and rookies) who remember the Apollo Program, flights 7-17. Which one was the most important and why? |
Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 994
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-19-2003 09:21 PM
It has gotta be Apollo 15 since they landed in the most beautiful place of all the flights. Or maybe Apollo 11 since it was the first, or 17 since they had the most productive mission... I don't know. All of them were great. |
Aztecdoug
Member Posts: 1405
From: Huntington Beach
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 11-19-2003 09:29 PM
I agree that Apollo 15 had the most beautiful location. But, my favorite will always be 8. First time man left home to go somewhere else. Absolutely awesome! |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 11-19-2003 10:05 PM
Apollo 13, the successful failure and NASA's finest hour. |
poolman18
Member Posts: 225
From: Ontario,Canada
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 11-19-2003 11:05 PM
Apollo 15: "Man must Explore". |
scout706
Member Posts: 166
From: Phoenix, AZ USA
Registered: May 2002
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posted 11-19-2003 11:34 PM
Apollo 12, no crew ever had more fun. |
derek
Member Posts: 297
From: N.Ireland.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 04:16 AM
Yes, the Apollo 12 landing beside Surveyor 3, walking a quarter mile from the LM, color TV (briefly) - and on my 14th birthday! |
Madon_space
Member Posts: 669
From: uk
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 07:14 AM
I will echo Apollo 12, they did seem to have quite a scream on that mission. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1532
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 11-20-2003 08:03 AM
My fave was Apollo 15. Since it happened during the summer when I was off from school (junior high school) I got to watch all the coverage without interruption! Plus the shots of Hadley Rille and the Apenine Mountains were fantastic, even on fuzzy, early 1970's TV. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1758
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 08:26 AM
Apollo 15...The coverage, the pictures from the rover, and the geological commentary from Dave Scott was exceptional. Last but not least, they brought to you live, scientific proof of a long supposed Gallilean physics theory, the Falcon feather hitting the lunar surface at precisely the same time as the hammer. Too cool... |
WAWalsh
Member Posts: 809
From: Cortlandt Manor, NY
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-20-2003 10:08 AM
Apollo 8:Like several said for Gemini, it is hard to argue one Apollo mission over another. Each was a very important piece. As a brief sidenote, Apollo 16's importance should not be overlook. The mission disproved (or at least undercut) a major theory on the Moon's formation and brought back some interesting samples (as well as providing a definitive comment on the adverse impact of too much orange juice). Apollo 8, as the first mission to leave Earth orbit and reach the Moon, nudges out Apollo 11 as the most important for me. The view of Earthrise and the subsequent colour photos were incredible. The fact that the mission splashed down on my birthday also probably gives me a mild bias for 8 over 11. I would place both missions well in advance of the other missions. Although helium 3 on the Moon may prove a vital discovery in the future or Apollo 13's ability to survive through disaster set an important standard, no two missions captured the attention or the imagination as Apollo 8 and Apollo 11. It does not diminish in any way the accomplishment of the next five landings, but none compares with the Eagle's landing on the Moon because that was the first. As Patrick Moore stated, Apollo 11 removed the word impossible from the English language. |
John K. Rochester
Member Posts: 1292
From: Rochester, NY, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 11:07 AM
...crazy reason for picking Apollo 15, the great job Joe Allen did as capcom during the traverses. He really added some spice to the conversations.. "Time to return again, to the homes of men.. on the cool, green hills of earth..." (maybe not the exact quote, but you get my drift). |
icarkie
Member Posts: 618
From: BURTON ON TRENT /England
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 01:43 PM
To me its got to be Apollo 12, the closest nit crew of the whole Apollo programme, pin point accurate landing,and on a sentimental point including the extra star on the mission patch with them never forgetting CC Williams the original LMP.
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BMckay
Member Posts: 3267
From: MA, USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 01:56 PM
One of my favorites is Apollo 9. Without that mission, you were not going to land on the moon in time. |
Cliff Lentz
Member Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-20-2003 04:05 PM
Whoopeeeeeeee! Apollo 12! |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-20-2003 05:11 PM
Apollo 15...I was 16 at the time and I saved enough money from my first job to go to KSC and view my first launch. It was an unbelievable experience! |
Cougar20
Member Posts: 93
From:
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 02-21-2004 02:50 AM
Apollo 11 had the most lasting impression in America, but without the dress rehearsal on 10, it would have been Pete Conrad, not Neil Armstrong who would be first on the moon.Apollo 8 had by far the most emotional effect on many people. Who alive then (not me) could ever forget the picture of the earthrise with the Genesis reading? And Apollo 15 was a great flight as well. An all Air Force crew, the mission is probably the most overlooked of all the moon landings besides 16. Dave Scott and Jim Irwin wrestling with the core tube is just one of the occasions this crew showed it's determination. And of course...the most overlooked successful failure of all time, Apollo 1. Many forget that if Apollo 1 hadn't occured, an even bigger disaster could have happend at a later time. What if a CM caught fire while the LM was still on the moon? Or if the astronauts had to make an emergency spacewalk, what would have happend with the hatch? So many problems were worked out due to the tragedy that Apollo 1 should be considered one of the most successful flights. |
astronut
Member Posts: 969
From: South Fork, CO
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted 02-21-2004 02:33 PM
Most important flight:
Apollo 8 for the same reasons given countless times before.Most fun flight:
Apollo 12... any Conrad flight was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. |
Rob Sumowski
Member Posts: 466
From: Macon, Georgia
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 02-21-2004 08:09 PM
Apollo 8, hands down, for me followed by Apollo 12, the three best friends. |
BLACKARROW
unregistered
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posted 02-21-2004 10:14 PM
As somebody said a few replies ago, one of the most overlooked Apollo flights was Apollo 16, which is a real pity. Anyone who sat through the pre-landing crisis when it really didn't look like they could possibly land (and they arguably had to bend the rules to go for the landing!) will know the true meaning of tension. Then there was the amazing quality of the TV pictures from the Moon (using a special enhancement technique)which showed clear, sharp pictures of the hilly lanscape, the activities of John Young and Charlie Duke, and the huge boulders and craters in the landing area. Apollo 16 wasn't the first, or the last. It can't compete with 8 or 11. But there is a very important point about 16 which shouldn't be forgotten. Young and Duke were sent to Descartes to prove the area was volcanic. They quickly established that the scientists were wrong about that. The rocks were mostly breccias, created by crater impacts. Science advances best when preconceived theories are disproved by direct observation. More than any other individual landing mission, Apollo 16 changed our understanding of the Moon. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3117
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 02-22-2004 03:53 AM
Apollo 17.All the missions were important stepping stones on the way - testing the hardware, leaving Earth for the first time, proving that you could land and return... The geological training given to the astronauts for the scientific missions made them good observers and achieved great things, but with Apollo 17 NASA actually took a geologist to the surface of the moon and back. To me that was the greatest achievement of the manned space program to date, although of course he should have been just the first of many...  |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4208
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-22-2004 04:41 AM
In answer to the specific question, Apollo 11 would have to be the most important mission.From a personal perspective the most impressive mission would have to be Apollo 15. Fantastic landing site, first use of the rover and a massive upgrade in the quality of pictures from the surface. Made for great tv... |
Keno
New Member Posts: 7
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 04-21-2004 12:41 PM
Seems the consensus has chosen Apollo 15 and for very good reason.... Outstanding mission!One of my favorites and somewhat overlooked is Apollo 10. They paved the way and what a crew, just look at their combined experience.
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divemaster
Member Posts: 1376
From: ridgefield, ct
Registered: May 2002
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posted 04-22-2004 01:49 PM
Apollo 7:
If that failed, I think Apollo's 8-17 might have been a moot point... or extensively delayed at the very least. Kennedy's deadline never would have been met.I remember thinking how gutsy it was for those guys to get into that craft after the fire. Seems like yesterday. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-18-2010 08:29 AM
With the awards season fast approaching may I nominate Apollo 9 as the best of the Apollo missions.Though it lacked the high drama of the lunar missions it was the 'connoisseurs' flight'. The prime objective was to test the LM through two manoeuvres in orbit, the 'mini-football and a simulation of the lunar rendezvous. Also on the flight plan was the first test under EVA conditions of the moon suit and back pack - the PLSS. Recovering from attacks of nausea, on the fourth day of the mission, Schweickart stood outside the LM for just over half an hour to prove the operation of the PLSS. The next day the LM was put through its paces and passed with flying colours. McDivitt's 'tissue paper spacecraft' performed flawlessly so opening the way for the next step of a flight round the Moon. These main objectives done, the crew had time to verify contingency plans, operations that that were put to use later on the Apollo 13 and 16 flights. Though not spectacular, without Apollo 9 much of what followed would not have taken place so smoothly. It was the 'bedrock' flight of the Apollo programme - a mission truly for the connoisseur of spaceflight. For this reason, Apollo 9 is my choice for the mission of the Apollo programme. What do you think? Editor's note: Threads merged |
robsouth
Member Posts: 769
From: West Midlands, UK
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 01-18-2010 08:53 AM
Apollo 11:All before were in preparation for it. All after built upon it. |
Scott
Member Posts: 3307
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001
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posted 01-18-2010 09:50 AM
My personal favorite is Apollo 8. It was so different than anything that had ever been done before. |
Kite
Member Posts: 855
From: Northampton UK
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 01-18-2010 03:41 PM
To me Apollo 11 has to be the most important simply because it was the first landing and so dramatic. Apollo 8 is only just behind because for first time mankind left the Earth for the Moon. Its timing at Christmas and the astronauts readings from Genesis made it very special, also Jim Lovell's "Please be informed there is a Santa Clause" as they came around from the back of the Moon to return home set the seal on it as a wonderful seasonal message.
I notice nobody has mentioned Apollo 14. I understand some of the scientists and geologists were not that pleased with the EVA's but I think the fact that a Mercury astronaut made it to the Moon was fitting. The way Alan Shepard used his position to take command, with help from Deke Slayton, after being grounded for so many years was questionable but adds to the legend of Apollo. It seems fellow Mercury veteran Gordo Cooper lost out, which was a shame, but the sheer determination of Shepard has to be admired. Would any of us had done the same to walk on the Moon in his position I wonder? All the missions were special. Most had some problems but were brilliantly dealt with by ground controllers and astronauts, especially Apollo 13. It was an epic era. |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-18-2010 04:08 PM
Every flight was outstanding and important, of course, in its own way but the world has rendered its decision, and time will surely just amplify that Apollo 11 was singularly exceptional. |
DChudwin
Member Posts: 1110
From: Lincolnshire IL USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 01-19-2010 01:45 PM
For me personally, the highlight was Apollo 11 and the opportunity to cover the launch from KSC as one of the youngest accredited journalists there (for the COllege Press Service). I will never forget the walk-out from the MSOB and the noise and vibration of the Saturn V launch.The most emotional mission for me was Apollo 8 and the Christmas Eve broadcast from lunar orbit. The Apollo 8 crew nailed it with the television pictures and the reading from Genesis. |
Apollo Redux
Member Posts: 346
From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Registered: Sep 2006
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posted 01-19-2010 04:24 PM
11 - hands down.First to prove that a human pilot could safely land on another celestial body. |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 01-20-2010 11:07 AM
Most important? In what way? Scientifically? Politically? Historically? I'd define it as which one met the program objective, without which the program would be a failure. Kennedy set the objectives simply: To land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. Apollo 11 did that, so there's no question. They could've shut the doors on the program after that and most people would've been fine. |
Space Cadet Carl
Member Posts: 225
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 01-20-2010 08:03 PM
Apollo 8. Christmas Eve Night 1968. It terrified me to think we were sending guys a quarter million miles out on an untested and unproven system. Plus I'll never forget the goosebumps I got sitting in front of our living room Christmas Tree that night while the crew read from the Book of Genesis in lunar orbit. My father sat there stunned and my Mother started to cry. We just stared at each other silently for a good five minutes after it was over. Goosebumps.... absolute goosebumps. |
Playalinda
Member Posts: 152
From: Peoria, AZ, USA
Registered: Oct 2009
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posted 01-20-2010 11:16 PM
The most important Apollo mission in my opinion: Apollo 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. They were all unique and fantastic. Apollo 1 was tragic but without the fire the Apollo history certainly would look different. Many people don't remember that six moon landings took place, especially the moon hoaxer. When I talk to nonbelievers I only have to say: Why did NASA fake the moon landings six times? That usually is enough to shut 'em up. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 01-21-2010 11:21 AM
I don't think "most important" is a good definition as technically all the missions as they flew were the most important. Indeed as someone else said, all before 11 prepared for it and all after 11 built upon it (even A13 for showing what could happen, resulting in better contingency plans).As far as biggest treasure trove of data relative to what was expected, A15 I think did that. It showed what the Rover could do and what astronauts trained as field geologists on the surface could do as far as hard science. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-22-2010 11:00 AM
Now here's a curious thing. When this topic was first posted in November 2003 the most popular mission was Apollo 15. However, since I reopened the thread in January this year (2010) members have gone for Apollo 11. I wonder if the 40th anniversary of the '11' flight has anything to do with this.Despite this, my vote still goes to Apollo 9. This mission brought together all the elements needed for a successful Moon landing and without it the outcome for Apollo 13 might have been very different and Apollo 16 might not have made a successful lunar landing. |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-22-2010 01:07 PM
Just bears out that over time Apollo 11 will stand out more and more. Sad of course, but even today most Americans, (let alone most other world citizens) would be hard pressed to name any other astronaut besides Neil (or Buzz, and most would probably say Buzz's last name was Lightyear), or be able to identify the mission that landed as "11". |
aeromed15&17
New Member Posts:
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posted 01-22-2010 02:09 PM
Each Apollo mission built on the success of the previous mission. It was an incremental process, but some steps were bigger than others. Certainly Apollo 8 was the first encounter with deep space and the lunar environment. But Apollo 11 was probably the most important from the point of view of proving that the lunar orbit rendevous concept worked. Later missions allowed precision landings as the mascon problem was understood, and further refinements allowed landings at sites away from the lunar equator and in more geologically interesting and varied locations. Had the missions continued, far side and polar landing sites would have probably been visited in incremental steps. But Apollo 11 was the first to prove what all of the missions before had been leading up to, and was what all of the missions after built upon. |
robsouth
Member Posts: 769
From: West Midlands, UK
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 01-22-2010 04:26 PM
In my opinion, the fact that Apollo 8 flew around the moon at Christmas actually detracts from its achievements. And reading from the bible doesn't make it anymore special. I call it the detracting factor. On Apollo 7 it was Schirra's cold, on 8 it's the Christmas and bible thing, on 9 it's Schweickart's sickness, on 10 it's Cernan's swearing, on 12 it's the loss of the camera, on 14 it's failure to reach the rim of Cone Crater. Only Apollo 11, 15, 16 and 17 flew missions remembered for their achievements and not some non-space related factor. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-22-2010 04:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by aeromed15&17:
But Apollo 11 was probably the most important from the point of view of proving that the lunar orbit rendevous concept worked.
Wasn't the lunar rendezvous concept proved on Apollo 9? OK - it was in Earth orbit but the mechanics were the same was for the '11' mission. |
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