Apollo Program

An artist's concept of the Axel rover rappelling into a lunar pit.

NASA Considers a Rover Mission to Go Cave Diving on the Moon

The deep caverns and pits that dot the lunar surface could hold clues to the moon's history and perhaps provide shelter for future human exploration

Margaret Hamilton stands next to a stack of program listings from the Apollo Guidance Computer in a photograph taken in 1969.

Margaret Hamilton Led the NASA Software Team That Landed Astronauts on the Moon

Apollo’s successful computing software was optimized to deal with unknown problems and to interrupt one task to take on a more important one

Apollo 14 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. assembles equipment on the lunar surface on February 6, 1971.

Earth’s Oldest Known Rock May Have Been Found on the Moon

Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space, collected the rock sample during Apollo 14

Gutenberg Castle in Balzers, Liechtenstein.

Twelve Anniversaries and Events Worth Traveling For in 2019

2019 will mark Singapore's bicentennial, the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death and a total solar eclipse in South America

1960s science fiction illustration of lunar exploration.

The Missions to the Moon That Never Left the Drawing Board

From pioneers of science fiction to the height of the space race, these are the ideas for lunar flight that never launched

Beneath the Space Window at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where a seven-gram sample of moon rock is incorporated into the design, a sold-out crowd gathered this week for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8.

NASA Won’t Be Going ‘Back’ to the Moon—It Wants to Go Beyond It

At a 50th-anniversary event for Apollo 8, NASA’s Jim Bridenstine envisioned the moon’s potential for future space exploration

“Everyone involved accomplished many, many firsts with that flight,” says Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony. of NASA's near-perfect mission, (above: Apollo 8 command module).

How Apollo 8 ‘Saved 1968’

The unforgettable, 99.9 percent perfect, December moon mission marked the end of a tumultuous year

Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man.

Smithsonian Curator Reflects on What 'First Man' Gets Right About Neil Armstrong's Journey to the Moon

The new film lays bare the personal sacrifice and peril that accompanied NASA's historic mission

Armstrong’s pressurized spacesuit, measuring nearly 5 feet 7 inches tall, featured anodized aluminum gauges and valves. (Detail)

The Latest on the Kickstarter Campaign to Conserve Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit

As a new biopic blasts off, the protective suit worn by the 'First Man' on the moon is readied for its star turn

This Apollo 8 Astronaut Took the Famous "Earthrise" Photo

Once in orbit, astronaut William Anders takes one of the most legendary photographs of all time

These Rare NASA Photos Were Saved From the Trash

The 1,500 press images up for sale cover the agency's manned missions from 1961 to 1972

A Timeline of 1968: The Year That Shattered America

The nation is still reckoning with the changes that came in that fateful year

Hours after witnessing the first Earthrise, Jim Lovell told mission control: “The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.”

Who Took the Legendary Earthrise Photo From Apollo 8?

The mission returned to Earth with one of the most famous images in history

Apollo 17's Saturn V launch vehicle sits atop pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apollo 17 Was the Swan Song of Manned Space Exploration

Looking back 45 years later, is there hope humanity will once again push beyond Earth? President Donald Trump seems to think so

The Moon Landing Was the Television Event of the Decade

On June 16, 1969, Americans filled highways, streets and homes to witness the launch of a rocket from the Kennedy Space Center: the legendary Apollo 11

Neil Armstrong's lunar spacesuit had a life expectancy of about six months. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum wants to exhibit it for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

A Moonwalk Did Not Destroy Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit. Now Time Won't Either

Conservators are bringing new innovations to save the 80-pound suit that allowed the first astronaut on the moon to take that giant leap

The LEM model missing from the Armstrong Museum

Thieves Steal Solid Gold Lunar Lander Model From Armstrong Museum

The five-inch model was created by Cartier as tribute from French newspaper readers to the Apollo 11 astronaut

Unlike the Apollo spacecraft, Orion will have solar panels to help power longer space journeys, as shown in this concept art of the spacecraft orbiting Earth.

What's Really Changed—and What Hasn’t—About Getting Humans to the Moon

NASA’s Orion will combine vintage tech with massive advances in computing power and electronics we've made since 1972

After orbiting the moon, Columbia made a nationwide tour that ended in 1971 when the command module came to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Apollo 11 Command Module Makes Another Journey

The command module "Columbia" will visit four U.S. museums, leaving DC for the first time in 46 years.

From left to right, the astronauts of Apollo 1: Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee.

The Legacy of the Apollo 1 Disaster

Fifty years after a fire killed three astronauts and temporarily grounded U.S. space exploration, a new exhibit honors the fallen crew

Page 4 of 5