On 25 May 1961, John F Kennedy announced the goal of landing an American man on the Moon by the end of the decade. This challenge forced NASA to review the planned lunar landing of a three-man spaceship named Apollo in the mid-1970s. In 1962, it was decided that a specialized vehicle would accompany the main spacecraft, to make the lunar landing while the mothership remained in lunar orbit. To send these vehicles to the Moon would require the development of an enormous rocket. Development was protracted, but in December 1968 Apollo 8 was launched on a pioneering mission to perform an initial reconnaissance in lunar orbit. When Apollo 17 lifted off from the Moon in December 1972, the program was concluded. Now, at long last, there is a real prospect of a resumption of human exploration of the Moon.

This book provides an overview of the origins of the Apollo program and descriptions of the ground facilities, launch vehicles and spacecraft that will serve as an invaluable single-volume sourcebook for space enthusiasts, space historians, journalists, and programme-makers on radio and TV. It supplements tha other books that have focused on the politics and management of the Apollo program, the astronauts, and their training and exploits.

Richard Orloff is a historian of the Apollo program who, in 2000, compiled a review of the Apollo missions, supplemented by a comprehensive tabular statistical reference.  This was published by NASA and is now out of print.  David Harland is also a space historian who has studied and written extensively about the Apollo program.

Saturn I: Development program 19611965.- AS-201: The first flight of the Saturn IB: a CSM on a ballistic arc 26 February 1966.- AS-203: The second flight of the Saturn IB: evaluating the S-IVB 5 July 1966.- AS-202: The third flight of the Saturn IB: testing the CM heat shield 25 August 1966.- Apollo 1: Cabin fire 27 January 1967.- Apollo 4: The first test of the Saturn V 9 November 1967.- Apollo 5: Unmanned test of the LM 22 January 1968.- Apollo 6: The second test of the Saturn V 4 April 1968.- Apollo 7: The first manned mission: testing the CSM in Earth orbit 1122 October 1968.- Apollo 8: The second manned mission: testing the CSM in lunar orbit 2127 December 1968.- Apollo 9: The third manned mission: testing the LM in Earth orbit 313 March 1969.- Apollo 10: The fourth manned mission: testing the LM in lunar orbit 1826 May 1969.- Apollo 11: The fifth manned mission: the first lunar landing 1624 July 1969.- Apollo 12: The sixth manned mission: the second lunar landing 1424 November 1969.- Apollo 13: The seventh manned mission: in-flight abort 1117 April 1970.- Apollo 14: The eighth manned mission: the third lunar landing 31 January9 February 1971.- Apollo 15: The ninth manned mission: the fourth lunar landing 26 July7 August 1971.- Apollo 16: The tenth manned mission: the fifth lunar landing 1627 April 1972.- Apollo 17: The eleventh manned mission: the sixth lunar landing 719 December 1972.