Over the course of American history few things have captured Americans’ hearts and imaginations the way that the Apollo moon missions have. Neil Armstrong’s famous quote, “That’s one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind”, is as synonymous with American culture as apple pie or baseball. Armstrong’s moonwalk was the pride of his home country and fascinated people across the globe. This was not the only event from the lunar missions to seize the world’s collective attention. On April 11, 1970 NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, also known as Odyssey (Journey Through the Galaxy). About two and a half days after take-off Apollo 13 experienced an explosion to an oxygen tank which then led to many systems’ failure and put the lives of the crew on board in danger (Dumoulin). The other famous quote from these lunar missions was born when Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, radioed in to report, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” (Dumoulin). While these two incidents made heroes out of men, the less talked about discoveries made from the Apollo missions are truly remarkable. Scientists were able to study information gathered and form new theories on how and what formed the moon. In addition to that, the technologies involved in getting men to the moon and allowing them to explore led to innovations used here on Earth. During the early 1960’s America was locked in a bitter cold war with the Soviet Union. Tensions and the threat of war were incredibly high. The space race was in full effect and the Americans were losing. In 1957, the Soviets became the first to put a man-made object into orbit around the Earth when they launched the satellite Sputnik (Garber). Just four years later, the Soviets bested America again when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go to space on April 12, 1961 (Garber). These occurrences highly embarrassed the Americans and called into question the American’s strength in being a leader in science and possibly military power. In order to save face and try to regain what had been lost, President John F. Kennedy announced plans to “send a man to the moon and return him back safely to Earth”, while addressing a special joint session of congress on May 25, 1961 (Garber). With this the Apollo program began. The Apollo program started in 1963 and ran until 1973. The program included several unmanned missions and twelve crewed missions. Of the twelve crewed missions three were Earth orbiting, two were lunar orbiting, one was a lunar swing by, and six were lunar landings. From each of the six moon landings, two astronauts from each mission walked on the moon for a total of twelve moon walks in all (Journey Through the Galaxy). Tragedy struck the Apollo program early. On January 27, 1967 a fire broke out in the command module while the crew for Apollo 1 was practicing a test launch. The fire quickly swept through the module killing the three astronauts on board, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee (Howell). The aftermath of the catastrophe prompted investigations and redesigns. The American spirit, however, prevailed and soon after on July 20, 1969 America won the space race by landing the first man on the moon restoring America’s morale and reputation across the world (Howell). During each of the six moonwalks astronauts executed, they performed a variety of experiments and collected about 380 kilograms worth of lunar samples (Grayzeck). After scientists began to analyze the moon rock, they began to realize that the previous theories about the moon and its formation may be wrong. Initially, there were three theories on how the moon was formed. First the co-creation theory, also known as the sister hypothesis, claimed that the moon was formed at the same time as the Earth but separately. Second the fission theory, also known as the daughter hypothesis, argued that the moon was formed from a spin off from Earth. This suggests that at one time the Earth was spinning so fast that a piece came off and that became the moon. Finally, the capture theory said that the moon was a body in the solar system that was captured by earth’s gravity and drawn into orbit (Freudenrich). All three were somewhat viable at some point but all had their detractors. The moon rock brought back to Earth offered contradictory evidence. The youngest rocks found on the moon were as old as the oldest Earth rocks. This seemed to support both the co-creation and capture theories. However, the moon rocks shared a chemical composition very similar to that of Earth rocks which supports the fission theory (Freudenrich). A new theory emerged that incorporates and explains all the moon’s characteristics. It is called the giant impact theory and it is currently the most widespread accepted theory to exist. The giant impact theory begins with a large planetesimal named Theia that is approximately the size of Mars slamming into the Earth. The impact ejects a large amount of Earth’s matter into space, mostly mantle. The pieces of material that were orbiting the Earth eventually condensed to form the moon (Freudenrich). Since mostly mantle was ejected and mixed with pieces of Theia easily explains why the moon is less dense than Earth. The question of why rocks found on the moon are similar to Earth’s but contain no volatile elements is easily answered as well. The theory suggests that the energy generated from the collision of Earth and Theia created a heat that was high enough to evaporate these substances (Todd). The incredible melting led to the newly formed moon being molten and covered in a magma ocean. This formed the lunar highlands when the early low density rocks floated to the top of the magma ocean surface. As the surface layer cooled, it was struck numerous times by asteroids allowing magma to seep through the cracks and fill the basins left by the impacts creating what is known as the maria. The moon then suffered from heavy bombardment as numerous asteroids slammed into it leaving it the heavily cratered surface we see today (Todd). In addition to explaining how and from what the moon was formed, the Apollo missions piloted many discoveries and technologies used here on Earth. These are often referred to as “spin-offs” of the Apollo program. The first of which not only saves thousands of people’s lives worldwide each year, it also improves the quality of life for those inflicted with kidney disease. It is estimated that between four and five million people across the globe are currently receiving dialysis as a form of treatment for their late stage kidney failure (Big D and Me). For those who are able to obtain their treatment at home the technology developed by NASA for the Apollo program is priceless. NASA created a chemical process that removes toxic waste from used dialysis fluid. The result is a special kidney dialysis machine that saves electricity and removes the need for a continuous water supply (Crtical Care Dialysis System). This innovation gives the home user more mobility and freedom while getting treatment. Another lifesaving innovation to come from the Apollo program arose in direct response to the tragic deaths of the three astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire. After the catastrophic event NASA went to work with Celanese Corp., a private company (Chow). Their mission was to take a material that has a high melting point known as PBI textile and develop a space suit and vehicle to protect astronauts. The result is a suit that can withstand extremely frigid temperatures up to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit and protect all the way to the exceptionally hot temperature of 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. This same technology used to make the suits for the astronauts is also being used to make suits to protect firefighters, military personnel, motor sports, and other industries (Chow). While these lifesaving discoveries are quite significant, they are not the only ones attributed to the Apollo program. Freeze drying food was introduced as a way to provide the astronauts with nutrition. The cooling suits used to keep the astronauts cool during moon walks are now being used by race car drivers, people with multiple sclerosis, and other disorders that prevent the body from cooling itself (Apollo Spinoffs). The conditioning equipment developed for astronauts led to the invention of physical therapy for athletes and rehabilitation centers. Even tennis shoes’ current design is traced back to the Apollo program (Apollo Spinoffs). The Apollo program was as important to the political climate as it was to science and industry. To the general public it was a race to beat the Soviets but for researchers it was a chance to explore. While the entire world watched as Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, the discoveries made from it can arguably be called even more important. The information learned from these missions not only gives us insight into the moon, but to our own planet as well.