This presentation commemorates the first lunar mission made by astronauts (the Apollo 8) and the first manned lunar landing (Apollo 11). Craig H. Williams, an Aerospace Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center, will explain the contributions by the Glenn Research Center which were fundamental to enable the mission. 

The Apollo 8 was truly a high-risk endeavor. In addition to the first men to the Moon, it also was the first manned flight on the Saturn V Moon rocket, the first "three-body" orbital mechanics mission sending astronauts 30 times the distance than any previous missions, the first human observation of the lunar far side, and the first human flight outside the protective Van Allen Radiation Belts. 

The Apollo 11 was the first manned landing on the moon. The Glenn Research Center made contributions including the application of propulsion technologies to solve significant problems with the Saturn V launch vehicle and Apollo spacecraft, the launch of robotic missions, leadership/integration/day-of-launch operations of two launch vehicle programs, and executive leadership by Cleveland alumni of initial pre-Apollo related efforts. 

Craig H. Williams is currently a Senior Aerospace Engineer in the Propulsion Division. He leads NASA’s support of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Experimental Spaceplane program to enable operationally efficient, shorter schedule, and lower cost access to low Earth orbit.