Apollo mission splashdown. Artwork of an Apollo mission command module on the surface of the ocean after splashdown (landing). NASA's Apollo programme ran 17 missions, including six Moon landings between 1969 and 1972. Apollo astronauts collected lunar rock and soil samples, and performed experiments on the lunar surface, such as the detection of cosmic rays and the solar wind. The mission command modules carried astronauts back to Earth. Their descent to the ocean's surface was slowed by several parachutes (red and white striped).