Several planned missions of theApollo crewed Moon landing program of the 1960s and 1970s were canceled, for reasons which included changes in technical direction,the Apollo 1 fire, theApollo 13 incident, hardware delays, and budget limitations. After the landing byApollo 12, Apollo 20, which would have been the final crewed mission to the Moon, was canceled to allowSkylab to launch as a "dry workshop" (assembled on the ground in an unusedS-IVBSaturn IB second stage). The next two missions, Apollos 18 and 19, were later canceled afterApollo 13 and further budget cuts. Two Skylab missions also ended up being canceled. Two completeSaturn V rockets remained unused and were put on display in the United States.[1]
In September 1962,NASA planned to make four crewed low-Earth-orbital test flights of partially equipped Block ICommand/Service Modules (CSM) using theSaturn I launch vehicle, designated SA-11 through SA-14, in 1965 and 1966. However, the limited payload capacity of the Saturn I compared to the upratedSaturn IB would have severely limited the systems carried, and thus the testing value of these flights. Therefore, NASA canceled these flights in October 1963,[2] and replaced them with two crewed Saturn IB missions, designated AS-204 and AS-205. These would be followed by the first uncrewed flight of theLunar Module (LM) on AS-206, then the third crewed mission, designated AS-207/208, would use AS-207 to launch the crew in an improved Block II CSM, which would rendezvous and dock with the LM launched uncrewed on AS-208.
The crew selected on March 21, 1966, for AS-204 consisted of Command PilotVirgil "Gus" Grissom, Senior PilotEd White, and PilotRoger Chaffee, who named their missionApollo 1. AS-205 was to be named Apollo 2, and AS-207/208 would be Apollo 3.[3] The AS-205 crew wereWally Schirra,Donn Eisele andWalter Cunningham. However, AS-205 was later deemed unnecessary and officially canceled on December 22, 1966.
Schirra's crew then became the backup for Grissom's crew, and the crewed LM mission became the second crewed mission, redesignated AS-205/208 and crewed by the original backup for Grissom's crew: Command PilotJim McDivitt, CSM PilotDavid Scott and LM PilotRusty Schweickart. They immediately began their training in the first Block II Command Module CM-101, as Grissom's crew were preparing for a February 1967 launch.
Then, on January 27, 1967, Grissom, White, and Chaffee were killed in a flash fire in their spacecraft cabin during a test on the launch pad, interrupting the program for 19 months to identify and fix the root causes of numerous safety problems. This forced cancellation of plans to fly any crewed Block I spacecraft, and effectively forced a "reboot" of all crewed mission plans.
In September 1967, NASA created a list of remaining mission types necessary to achieve the first crewed lunar landing, each designated by a letter A through G, where G would be the first crewed landing. This list was later extended through letter J to cover follow-on lunar missions.
Two uncrewed Saturn V test launches (A missions) were flown asApollo 4 andApollo 6. A third test was planned but canceled as unnecessary.
The first development Lunar Module, LM-1 was flown uncrewed (B mission) asApollo 5. A second uncrewed test was planned using LM-2 but was canceled as unnecessary. LM-2 was retrofitted to look like a production LM which would land men on the Moon and was donated to theSmithsonianNational Air and Space Museum, where it is currently on display as a simulation of theApollo 11 first landing.
Schirra's crew would fly theC mission, first crewed CSM (Block II CSM-101, retrofitted with the cabin safety improvements) asApollo 7 in October 1968.
McDivitt's crew and mission were kept as the first crewed development LM flight (D mission); this was planned to be Apollo 8 in December 1968, now using a singleSaturn V launch vehicle instead of two separate Saturn IB launches. TheE mission was planned as an ellipticalmedium Earth orbit test of the operational LM with the CSM in a simulated lunar mission to an apogee of 4,600 miles (7,400 km), to be commanded byFrank Borman in March 1969.
Of all the components of the Apollo system, the LM had the most technical issues. It was behind schedule and when LM-3 was shipped to theKennedy Space Center in June 1968, over 101 separate defects were discovered.Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which was the lead contractor for the LM predicted that the first man-rated LM, to be used for the D mission, would not be ready until at least February 1969, delaying the entire sequence.
George Low, the manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, proposed a solution in August 1968. Since the CSM would be ready three months before the Lunar Module, they could fly a CSM-only mission in December 1968. But instead of just repeating the C mission that would fly the CSM in Earth orbit, they could send the CSM all the way to the Moon and maybe even enter into orbit. This mission was dubbed "C-Prime" (an imaginary letter between C and D). This new mission would allow NASA to practice procedures for a lunar flight that would otherwise have to wait untilApollo 10, the F mission. There were also concerns from theCentral Intelligence Agency that the Soviet Union was planning their own circumlunar flight for December to upstage the Americans once again (seeZond program). McDivitt's crew—who had grown accustomed to working with LM-3 and preparing for its flight—was kept on the D mission which now becameApollo 9, while Borman's crew would fly the CSM lunar orbit mission onApollo 8, and the E mission was canceled.
The swap of crews was also decisive in who would be the first man to walk on the Moon.Pete Conrad was backup commander for McDivitt's crew, and by the process of crew rotation, would have been in line for commander ofApollo 11 three flights later.Neil Armstrong got this honor by virtue of being Borman's backup commander.
NASA contracted to have 15 flight-worthy Saturn V rockets produced. Apollo 11 achieved the first landing with the sixth Saturn V, leaving nine for follow-on landings. The following landing sites were chosen (see clarification below) for these missions, planned to occur at intervals of approximately four months through July 1972.[4][5] This list of landing sites was not compiled by the Apollo Site Selection Board (ASSB), or its various sub-groups, which made the actual landing site selections one to two flights in advance. This list was compiled by a consulting firm, and was only a set of planning tools and suggestions. The ASSB would have selected actual sites for the cancelled Apollo missions, and since these missions never went through the site selection process, the list presented here did not reflect actual planning of the Apollo Program Office or NASA HQ, as referenced inTo A Rocky Moon, by Donald Wilhelms.
The last five missions were J-class missions using theExtended Lunar Module, capable of three-day stays on the Moon and carrying theLunar Roving Vehicle:
As the later missions were up to three years in the future, little detailed planning was made, and a variety of landing sites were given for some flights. According to "NASA OMSF, Manned Space Flight Weekly Report" dated July 28, 1969, Apollo 18 would have landed atSchröter's Valley in February 1972, Apollo 19 in theHyginus rille region in July 1972, and Apollo 20 in Copernicus crater in December 1972.
Other proposed landing sites and schedules for the last three missions includedGassendi crater (Apollo 18, July 1973), Copernicus (Apollo 19, December 1973), and Marius Hills or Tycho crater (Apollo 20, July 1974).[6]
As a number of ambitiousApollo Applications Programs were planned, it was still hoped in 1969 that further Saturn V launch vehicles could be contracted, allowing for more ambitious lunar missions.
In the NASA report "Scientific Rationale Summaries for Apollo Candidate Lunar Exploration Landing Sites" from March 11, 1970, Apollo 18 is targeted for Copernicus, and Apollo 19 is assignedHadley rille (the eventual landing site of Apollo 15). The Apollo 20 mission had been canceled two months before, but the report still suggested its target, Hyginus rille, possibly as an alternative Apollo 19 landing site.[7]
Harrison Schmitt was likely to be the first scientist to the Moon on Apollo 18 or 19, withDon L. Lind the second.[8] On January 4, 1970, NASA announced the cancellation of Apollo 20 so that itsSaturn V launch rocket could be used to launch theSkylabspace station as a "dry workshop" (assembled on the ground), instead of constructing it as a "wet workshop" from a spentS-IVB upper stage of aSaturn IB launch vehicle. Also, budget restrictions had limited the Saturn V production to the original 15.[9] After NASA Deputy AdministratorGeorge M. Low announced that the final three Moon landings were rescheduled for 1973 and 1974, following the three planned Skylab missions,[10]Chief AstronautDeke Slayton moved Lind to Apollo Applications, stating that "with the cancellation of 20, I could see I just wasn't going to have a flight for him".[11]
Another lunar landing was lost in April 1970 whenApollo 13 had its in-flight failure, and the Fra Mauro landing site was reassigned toApollo 14. Then on September 2, 1970, NASA announced it was canceling the H4 and J4 missions after more budget cuts. Skylab was postponed to 1973, and the final landing schedule became:
At the time, 35 of NASA's 49 active astronauts were waiting for a mission.[12]
In the final days of the program, Apollo 17 LMP Schmitt aggressively lobbied for a crewed landing on thefar side of the Moon, targeting the far sideTsiolkovskiy crater. Schmitt's ambitious proposal included the launch into lunar orbit of special communications satellites based on the existingTIROS satellites to allow contact with the astronauts during their powered descent and lunar surface operations. NASA administrators rejected these plans because of lack of funding and added risk.
In August 1971, PresidentRichard Nixon proposed to cancel all remaining lunar landings (Apollo 16 and 17). HisOffice of Management and Budget Deputy DirectorCaspar Weinberger was opposed to this and persuaded Nixon to keep the remaining Moon missions, but recommended that if such cancellation did happen, it should be "on the ground that Apollo 15 was so successful in gathering needed data that we can now shift, sooner than previously expected, to theSpace Shuttle,Grand Tour,NERVA, etc".[13]
John Young, who flew on Apollo 10 and 16, believed that fear of losing astronauts was a reason why NASA canceled Apollo 18, 19, and 20.[14]
Slayton was the director of Flight Crew Operations and effectively chose the crews for the flights. He did not intend to give astronauts two lunar landing commands but, according to historianMichael Cassutt, as late as the summer of 1969—when 10 landings were still scheduled—Slayton planned to give Lunar Module pilotsFred Haise,Edgar Mitchell, andJames Irwin the opportunity to walk again on the Moon as commanders.[15] During the early Apollo missions he used a rotation system of assigning a crew as backup and then, three missions later, as the prime crew. However, by the later Apollo flights, this system was used less frequently as astronauts left the program, and Slayton wanted to give rookies a chance, and astronauts did not want to take backup positions that no longer could lead to prime-crew spots.
In the case of Apollo 18 the crew was probably the Apollo 15 backup crew:[5]
When Apollo 18 was canceled, Schmitt was moved up toApollo 17 under pressure from the scientific community, replacingJoe Engle. Schmitt, a geologist, became the twelfth man and the only professional scientist to walk on the Moon.
Slayton's intention for the Apollo 19 crew was the original (prior to cancellation) Apollo 16 backup crew:[5][16]
For Apollo 20 there is even more uncertainty. Based on normal crew rotation, the crew would likely have been:[5]
Another possibility would have been:[6]
One of the surplus CSMs, CSM-119, was modified to carry two additional crew and kept on standby for a potential rescue mission in case of issues on-boardSkylab. DuringSkylab 3, a malfunction on the Apollo CSM docked to the station caused fears that the crew would not be able to return safely. CSM-119 was rolled out to Launch Complex 39B on Saturn IB SA-209 during the mission and prepared for a possible launch. Two astronauts, Brand (commander) and Lind (Command Module pilot), would have flown the CSM to retrieve the three crew members. The problem was fixed without requiring a rescue flight. CSM-119 was returned to theVehicle Assembly Building and remained on standby until the Skylab program ended.
CSM-119 was also held as a backup CSM for theApollo–Soyuz Test Project.
Skylab 5 would have been a short 20-day mission to conduct more scientific experiments and boost Skylab into a higher orbit. Brand, Lind, andWilliam B. Lenoir (science pilot) would have been the crew.[17]
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Two completeSaturn V rockets went unused after the Apollo program, SA-514 and SA-515, as well as the third stage of the SA-513. SA-513 was the launch vehicle originally planned for the Apollo 18 mission, which was instead used (without its third stage) to launchSkylab.[18]
SeveralSaturn IBs also remained unused and in storage at the end of the Apollo program. Three (SA-206, SA-207 and SA-208) were used for the crewed launches of the Skylab program, and SA-210 was used for the crewed ASTP flight. The second stage of SA-212 was rebuilt as the launched Skylab. Of the remaining vehicles, two are on display, and the rest were scrapped.[19] Any surplusRocketdyne H-1 first stage engines were rebranded as the Rocketdyne RS-27 engine for usage on active launch vehicles of the time, such as those of the Delta 2000 Series in 1974.[20]
Likewise, the canceled flights' CSMs and LMs went either unused or were used for other missions:
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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