<P> Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972 , with the first manned flight in 1968 . It achieved its goal of manned lunar landing , despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test . After the first landing , sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow - on landings with a plan for extended lunar geological and astrophysical exploration . Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these . Five of the remaining six missions achieved successful landings , but the Apollo 13 landing was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion in transit to the Moon , which destroyed the Service Module 's capability to provide electrical power , crippling the CSM 's propulsion and life support systems . The crew returned to Earth safely by using the Lunar Module as a `` lifeboat '' for these functions . Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles , which were also used for an Apollo Applications Program , which consisted of Skylab , a space station that supported three manned missions in 1973 -- 74 , and the Apollo -- Soyuz Test Project , a joint US - Soviet Union Earth - orbit mission in 1975 . </P>
<P> Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972 , with the first manned flight in 1968 . It achieved its goal of manned lunar landing , despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test . After the first landing , sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow - on landings with a plan for extended lunar geological and astrophysical exploration . Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these . Five of the remaining six missions achieved successful landings , but the Apollo 13 landing was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion in transit to the Moon , which destroyed the Service Module 's capability to provide electrical power , crippling the CSM 's propulsion and life support systems . The crew returned to Earth safely by using the Lunar Module as a `` lifeboat '' for these functions . Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles , which were also used for an Apollo Applications Program , which consisted of Skylab , a space station that supported three manned missions in 1973 -- 74 , and the Apollo -- Soyuz Test Project , a joint US - Soviet Union Earth - orbit mission in 1975 . </P>
which apollo mission did not make it to the moon
which apollo mission did not make it to the moon
Apollo 13
Apollo 13