The APOLLO mission was a series of spaceflight missions conducted by the United States between 1968 and 1972. The APOLLO program was the third human spaceflight program undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was designed to land the first humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. The APOLLO 11 mission, which launched on July 16, 1969, was the first successful mission to land humans on the Moon. The APOLLO program also included several other missions, including the APOLLO 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions, which were all successful in their own right.