Faced with the Soviet Union's leading advantage in sending astronauts into space, US
President Kennedy proposed the Apollo program to Congress on May 25, 1961, to send
humans to the moon within 9 years. Human landing on the moon has become a new
peak in manned spaceflight activities.
As early as 1958, the United States established NASA to strengthen space activities and
made two strategic decisions: first, immediately selecting astronauts for the manned
Mercury program; The second is to prioritize the development of the F-1 engine with
enormous thrust.
Under strict and scientific management by NASA, and after more than eight years of
hard work by hundreds of thousands of people, the lunar module of Apollo 11
spacecraft, piloted by astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed in the still sea area near
the equator of the moon on July 20, 1969. This is a remarkable achievement that shook
the world and holds significant historical significance in the history of world aerospace.
Afterwards, Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 successfully landed on the moon, and
astronauts conducted extensive research on the moon. The Apollo program embodies
the level of modern science and technology and promotes the rapid development of
space technology.
At the beginning of the 21st century, after overcoming the basic technical issues
necessary for lunar landing, major aerospace powers around the world proposed to
"return to the moon". The motivation behind this plan, without exception, is to first
develop and utilize the abundant mineral resources of the moon, the inexhaustible solar
energy, the unique ultra-high vacuum, no magnetic field, stable and clean environment
of the moon, and its special military status.
