Project Apollo: America's Lunar Exploration Amidst Cold War

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Between July 1969 and December 1972, 12 American astronauts walked upon the lunar surface. Their 240,000 mile journey to the moon began centuries earlier as the first human gazed skyward into the heavens. As the closest celestial body to the Earth, the moon inspired dreams of exploration through masterworks of literature and art. While such visionary dreams became reality with the technological giant known as Project Apollo, the atmosphere of the Cold War precipitated the drive to the moon.
By 1961 the Soviet Union garnered many of the important "firsts" in space—the artificial satellite (Sputnik I), a living creature in space (Sputnik II), and an un-manned lunar landing (Luna II). Space was no longer a vast territory reserved for stargazers …show more content…

Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to escape the Earth's gravitational pull and circumnavigate the moon. The desolate and forbidding surface of a lifeless moon made the "blue marble" of Earth seem like a "grand oasis" in the dark void of space. For the first time humans could see their fragile planet in its entirety. Television cameras transmitted the images back to Earth as the crew quoted Genesis on the eve of Christmas. Apollo 8 had been one of the few bright spots in a year filled with domestic political turmoil, riots, war, and …show more content…

It became NASA's equivalent to a summer rerun on television. The next mission, Apollo 13, would have suffered a similar fate had it not been for its near disaster in space. The explosion of an oxygen tank brought with it the prospect of suffering a loss of life in space, and Apollo once again captured headlines. Apollo 14 had moments of interest for the public—it featured Alan Shepard hitting golf balls for "miles and miles" courtesy of the moon's reduced gravity. The crews of Apollo 15, 16, and 17, regardless of the scientific value of the missions, became anonymous figures in bulky white suits bouncing around on the lunar surface. Their activities were relegated to a mere mention on the evening news

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