Editing Apollo program (section)

==NASA expansion==
At the time of Kennedy's proposal, only one American had flown in space—less than a month earlier—and NASA had not yet sent an astronaut into orbit. Even some NASA employees doubted whether Kennedy's ambitious goal could be met.<ref>[[#Murray & Cox|Murray & Cox 1989]], pp. 16–17</ref> By 1963, Kennedy even came close to agreeing to a joint US-USSR Moon mission, to eliminate duplication of effort.<ref>{{cite news |title=Soviets Planned to Accept JFK's Joint Lunar Mission Offer |first=Frank |last=Sietzen |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/news/russia-97h.html |agency=SpaceCast News Service |work=SpaceDaily |date=October 2, 1997 |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>

With the clear goal of a crewed landing replacing the more nebulous goals of space stations and circumlunar flights, NASA decided that, in order to make progress quickly, it would discard the feasibility study designs of Convair, GE, and Martin, and proceed with Faget's command and service module design. The mission module was determined to be useful only as an extra room, and therefore unnecessary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4209/ch3-7.htm|title= Soyuz – Development of the Space Station; Apollo – Voyage to the Moon|access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> They used Faget's design as the specification for another competition for spacecraft procurement bids in October 1961. On November 28, 1961, it was announced that [[North American Aviation]] had won the contract, although its bid was not rated as good as the Martin proposal. Webb, Dryden and [[Robert Seamans]] chose it in preference due to North American's longer association with NASA and [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics|its predecessor]].{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|loc=Ch. 2.5: [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch2-5.html "Contracting for the Command Module"]. pp. 41–44}}

Landing humans on the Moon by the end of 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($25&nbsp;billion; ${{format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|25400000000|1966}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}} US dollars){{Inflation-fn|US-GDP}} ever made by any nation in peacetime. At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Apollo.html |title=NASA Langley Research Center's Contributions to the Apollo Program |editor-last=Allen |editor-first=Bob |work=[[Langley Research Center]] |publisher=NASA |access-date=August 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210155909/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Apollo.html |archive-date=2004-12-10}}</ref>

On July 1, 1960, NASA established the [[Marshall Space Flight Center]] (MSFC) in [[Huntsville, Alabama]]. MSFC designed the heavy lift-class [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn launch vehicles]], which would be required for Apollo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history_fact_sheet.html|title=Historical Facts|access-date=June 7, 2016|website=MSFC History Office|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603125431/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history_fact_sheet.html|archive-date=June 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Manned Spacecraft Center===
{{main|Johnson Space Center}}

It became clear that managing the Apollo program would exceed the capabilities of [[Robert R. Gilruth]]'s [[Space Task Group]], which had been directing the nation's crewed space program from NASA's [[Langley Research Center]]. So Gilruth was given authority to grow his organization into a new NASA center, the [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]] (MSC). A site was chosen in [[Houston]], Texas, on land donated by [[Rice University]], and Administrator Webb announced the conversion on September 19, 1961.<ref name="TNO 12">{{cite book |last1=Swenson |first1=Loyd S. Jr. |first2=James M. |last2=Grimwood |first3=Charles C. |last3=Alexander |title=This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/toc.htm |access-date=August 1, 2013 |series=The NASA History Series |orig-year=Originally published 1966 |date=1989 |publisher=NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=569889 |id=NASA SP-4201 |chapter=Chapter 12.3: Space Task Group Gets a New Home and Name |chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch12-3.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713233748/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/toc.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was also clear NASA would soon outgrow its practice of controlling missions from its [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]] launch facilities in Florida, so a new [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center|Mission Control Center]] would be included in the MSC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dethloff |first=Henry C. |title=Suddenly Tomorrow Came ... A History of the Johnson Space Center |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |year=1993 |chapter=Chapter 3: Houston – Texas – U.S.A. |isbn=978-1502753588 |url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/suddenly_tomorrow/suddenly.htm}}</ref>

[[File:President Kennedy speech on the space effort at Rice University, September 12, 1962.ogv|thumb|right|thumbtime=17:32|President Kennedy speaks at [[Rice University]], September 12, 1962 (17 min, 47 s).]]
In September 1962, by which time two Project Mercury astronauts had orbited the Earth, Gilruth had moved his organization to rented space in Houston, and construction of the MSC facility was under way, Kennedy visited Rice to reiterate his challenge in [[We choose to go to the Moon|a famous speech]]:
{{blockquote|But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition|climb the highest mountain]]? Why, 35 years ago, [[Spirit of St. Louis|fly the Atlantic]]?{{nbsp}}...

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills; because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win{{nbsp}}...<ref name="Rice Speech">{{cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htm |url-status=dead |title=Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |date=September 12, 1962 |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum |location=Boston, MA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506113709/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htm |archive-date=May 6, 2010 |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>{{efn|{{Cws |title=Full text |link=We choose to go to the moon |nobullet=yes}}}}}}

The MSC was completed in September 1963. It was renamed by the [[United States Congress]] in honor of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] soon after his death in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4109#axzz1RbWN5hpf |title=50—Statement About Signing a Bill Designating the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |first=Richard M. |last=Nixon |author-link=Richard M. Nixon |date=February 19, 1973 |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref>

===Launch Operations Center===
{{main|Kennedy Space Center}}

It also became clear that Apollo would outgrow the Canaveral launch facilities in [[Florida]]. The two newest launch complexes were already being built for the [[Saturn I]] and [[Saturn IB|IB]] rockets at the northernmost end: [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34|LC-34]] and [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 37|LC-37]]. But an even bigger facility would be needed for the mammoth rocket required for the crewed lunar mission, so land acquisition was started in July 1961 for a Launch Operations Center (LOC) immediately north of Canaveral at [[Merritt Island, Florida|Merritt Island]]. The design, development and construction of the center was conducted by [[Kurt H. Debus]], a member of [[Wernher von Braun]]'s original [[V-2 rocket]] engineering team. Debus was named the LOC's first Director.<ref name="NASA2">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/biographies/debus.html |title=Dr. Kurt H. Debus |date=February 1987 |work=Kennedy Biographies |publisher=NASA |access-date=October 7, 2008}}</ref> Construction began in November 1962. Following [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's death]], President Johnson issued an executive order on November 29, 1963, to rename the LOC and Cape Canaveral in honor of Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1963-johnson.html |title=Executive Orders Disposition Tables: Lyndon B. Johnson – 1963: Executive Order 11129 |work=[[Office of the Federal Register]] |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=April 26, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:VonBraunMuellerReesSA6.jpg|thumb|[[George Mueller (NASA)|George Mueller]], [[Wernher von Braun]], and [[Eberhard Rees]] watch the [[AS-101]] launch from the firing room.]]
The LOC included [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39|Launch Complex 39]], a [[Launch Control Center]], and a {{convert|130|e6ft3|m3|adj=on}} [[Vehicle Assembly Building|Vertical Assembly Building]] (VAB).<ref>The building was renamed "Vehicle Assembly Building" on February 3, 1965. {{cite web |title=VAB Nears Completion |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4204/ch12-7.html |website=NASA History Program Office |publisher=NASA |access-date=2023-02-12 |quote=The new name, it was felt, would more readily encompass future as well as current programs and would not be tied to the Saturn booster. |archive-date=April 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428174930/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4204/ch12-7.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> in which the space vehicle (launch vehicle and spacecraft) would be assembled on a [[mobile launcher platform]] and then moved by a [[crawler-transporter]] to one of several launch pads. Although at least three pads were planned, only two, designated A{{nbsp}}and{{nbsp}}B, were completed in October 1965. The LOC also included an [[Operations and Checkout Building]] (OCB) to which [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and Apollo spacecraft were initially received prior to being mated to their launch vehicles. The Apollo spacecraft could be tested in two [[vacuum chamber]]s capable of simulating atmospheric pressure at altitudes up to {{convert|250000|ft|km}}, which is nearly a vacuum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/techCap/altitude.htm |url-status=dead |title=KSC Technical Capabilities: O&C Altitude Chambers |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Kay |work=Center Planning and Development Office |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328084113/http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/techCap/altitude.htm |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |access-date=July 29, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.luizmonteiro.com/StdAtm.aspx |title=1976 Standard Atmosphere Properties |work=luizmonteiro.com |publisher=Luizmonteiro, LLC |type=Complete [[International Standard Atmosphere]] calculator (1976 model) |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>

===Organization===
Administrator [[James E. Webb|Webb]] realized that in order to keep Apollo costs under control, he had to develop greater project management skills in his organization, so he recruited [[George Mueller (NASA)|George E. Mueller]] for a high management job. Mueller accepted, on the condition that he have a say in NASA reorganization necessary to effectively administer Apollo. Webb then worked with Associate Administrator (later Deputy Administrator) Seamans to reorganize the Office of Manned Space Flight (OMSF).<ref name="SecretOfApollo">[[#Johnson|Johnson 2002]]</ref> On July 23, 1963, Webb announced Mueller's appointment as Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, to replace then Associate Administrator [[D. Brainerd Holmes]] on his retirement effective September 1. Under Webb's reorganization, the directors of the Manned Spacecraft Center ([[Robert R. Gilruth|Gilruth]]), [[Marshall Space Flight Center]] ([[Wernher von Braun|von Braun]]), and the Launch Operations Center ([[Kurt H. Debus|Debus]]) reported to Mueller.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stages to Saturn |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/p443.htm |page=443 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=history.nasa.gov |id=SP-4206}}</ref>

Based on his industry experience on Air Force missile projects, Mueller realized some skilled managers could be found among high-ranking officers in the [[U.S. Air Force]], so he got Webb's permission to recruit General [[Samuel C. Phillips]], who gained a reputation for his effective management of the [[LGM-30 Minuteman|Minuteman]] program, as OMSF program controller. Phillips's superior officer [[Bernard Adolph Schriever|Bernard A. Schriever]] agreed to loan Phillips to NASA, along with a staff of officers under him, on the condition that Phillips be made Apollo Program Director. Mueller agreed, and Phillips managed Apollo from January 1964, until it achieved the first human landing in July 1969, after which he returned to Air Force duty.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Samuel C. Phillips, Who Directed Apollo Lunar Landing, Dies at 68 |first=Alfonso A. |last=Narvaez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/01/obituaries/samuel-c-phillips-who-directed-apollo-lunar-landing-dies-at-68.html?pagewanted=1 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 1, 1990 |access-date=April 14, 2010}}</ref>

Charles Fishman, in ''[[One Giant Leap (book)|One Giant Leap]]'', estimated the number of people and organizations involved into the Apollo program as "410,000 men and women at some 20,000 different companies contributed to the effort".<ref name=npr>{{cite web |last1=Davies |first1=Dave |title='One Giant Leap' Explores The Herculean Effort Behind The 1969 Moon Landing |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/06/12/731660780/one-giant-leap-explores-the-herculean-effort-behind-the-1969-moon-landing |work=NPR |location=US |date=2019-06-12 |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>
<!----This probably completes this section, the intent of which is to keep the narrative flow of Webb's big 1963 reorganization. These remainders should be highlighted, probably as appropriate in later sections.
* Shea
* Christopher Kraft
* Gene Kranz
* Deke Slayton
* Rocco Petrone
---->