Apollo 5 was the first uncrewed test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module in Earth orbit. It was launched on a Saturn IB rocket and had the aim of testing the lander's descent and ascent engines, including the abort staging procedure in which the ascent stage fires while still attached to the descent stage. A computer cut the first firing of the descent engine short because of a software setup problem, but mission controllers improvised, and the engine tests were completed during the flight of about eleven hours. The test showed that the Lunar Module could work, and it cleared the way for crewed flights of the lander. The vehicle was not recovered and eventually burned up in the atmosphere.
Before and after
- from 1968 to 1982Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon
- 1968Founding of FK Sūduva
- 1968Construction of São Paulo Museum of Art
- 1968Establishment of Gombe National Park
- 22 January 1968Launch of Apollo 5
- 30 January 1968Birth of Felipe VI of Spain
- from 30 January 1968 to 23 September 1968Tet Offensive
- 11 February 1968Construction of Madison Square Garden
- from 20 February 1968 to 30 January 2003Premiere of Columbo
More in Universe & space
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 24 April 1990Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.