See the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum web site for more information on the Apollo program and its missions: The J-2 engine was reignited to propel the spacecraft into translunar trajectory (speed of 24,500 mph) before finally being discarded. The third stage was shut down with fuel remaining and remained attached the spacecraft in Earth orbit. This engine burned for 2.75 minutes, boosting the spacecraft to an orbital velocity of about 17,500 mph. The third stage (S-IVB) contained one J-2 engine.After the first stage was discarded, the second stage burned for approximately 6 minute,s taking the vehicle and payload to 115 miles altitude. The second stage (S-II) contained five J-2 engines.The first stage then separated and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. The first stage engines were burned at liftoff and lasted for about 2.5 minutes, taking the vehicle and payload to an altitude of 38 miles. These powerful engines were required to lift the heavy rocket fast enough to escape Earth's gravity. The first stage (S-IC) included the five F-1 engines producing nearly 7.7 million pounds of thrust.The Saturn V launch vehicle itself consisted of three stages: The Apollo spacecraft, including the command module (CM), service module (SM), and lunar module (LM), could accommodate a crew of three and was launched on a Saturn V rocket. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind experiments.

The six missions that landed on the moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples.

Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. Apollos 8 and 10 tested various components while orbiting the moon and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth-orbiting missions to test the command and lunar modules, and did not return lunar data. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the moon and bring them safely back to Earth. See NASA's Project Mercury website for more information: Prior to the crewed flights, uncrewed tests of the booster and the capsule were made carrying a chimpanzee. The Mercury program used two launch vehicles: a Redstone for the suborbital and an Atlas for the four orbital flights. The blunt end was covered with an ablative heat shield to protect it against the 3,000 degree heat of entry into the atmosphere. It was 2 meters (6 ft, 10 in) long, 1.9 meters (6 ft, 2.5 in) in diameter, and a 5.8-meter (19 ft, 2 in) escape tower was fastened to the cylinder of the capsule. The Mercury spacecraft was a cone-shaped one-man capsule with a cylinder mounted on top. To recover both man and spacecraft safely.To investigate man's ability to function in space.To orbit a crewed spacecraft around Earth.The objectives of the program, which made six crewed flights from 1961 to 1963, were: Initiated in 1958 and completed in 1963, Project Mercury was the United States' first human spaceflight program.

Behavioral drift chimpanzee hand clasp