The Apollo program was the ambitious U.S. human spaceflight initiative led by NASA from 1961 to 1972, famously dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This monumental feat was achieved on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins orbited above.
Despite facing significant challenges, including the tragic Apollo 1 cabin fire in 1967 and the dramatic in-flight emergency of Apollo 13, the program successfully landed a total of twelve astronauts on the Moon across six missions. Powered by the mighty Saturn family of rockets, Apollo returned an invaluable 842 pounds (382 kg) of lunar rocks and soil, profoundly advancing our understanding of the Moon's geology. Beyond its lunar triumphs, Apollo set major human spaceflight milestones by sending crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit and laid critical foundations for future endeavors like the Skylab space station, while spurring widespread technological advancements.