The Apollo missions were one of the crowning achievements of mankind, placing 12 men on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth. There were many options available to mission planners but all had the same requirements: escape Earth's gravity (giant rocket), navigate to the Moon (first digital computer in space), land safely on the Moon (first spacecraft designed for operation outside an atmosphere), survive on the Moon for up to several days (lunar "motel"), launch from the lunar surface (a lunar lander that doubled as a launch pad), navigate back to Earth (more digital computer magic), reenter Earth's atmosphere at over 25,000 mph (careful control of entry angle, heat shield and parachutes), and finally land safely. This talk will describe the machines that got the astronauts there and back, the challenges that were faced in building them, and why the first "simple" mission profiles had to be scrapped in favor of a fantastically dangerous and never-before-attempted technique called "Lunar Orbit Rendezvous".

Ted Blank is an astronomy and space enthusiast and has been a NASA Solar System Ambassador for five years. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Astronomical Society and co-founder of the Fountain Hills Astronomy Club. He greatly enjoys sharing the views through his telescope(s) with the public.