Here’s How the Apollo Team Trained for Their Historic Space Missions

The spaceman who fly in the Apollo space missions have been immortalized in images of their trips to space , and to the Moon . But in these photo we see their human sides , as they prepped to leave the satellite by education in some of the most forbidding location on Earth .

Fourteen NASA astronauts pose for group pictures at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada after they completed a course in desert survival training, 1964

( viaWikimedia Commons )

Scientists prepare metal vacuum cell and Apollo crew compartment for manned tests of the environmental control system that will produce a habitable environment for astronauts. These tests were conducted at North American’s Space Division in Downey, California, on 25 April 2025.

( Photo by AP )

This 1965 NASA Flight Reserch Center photograph the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) is shown at near maximum altitude over the south base at Edwards Air Force Base.

Prime crew members for the first manned Apollo space flight practice water egress procedures in a swimming pool at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas, June 1966

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during counter balancing for neutral buoyancy simulation training before the Gemini XII flight in November 1966. Later he was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, and the second person to walk on the Moon.

William A. Anders (Apollo 8) on a geological field trip with two geologists in Dragon Canyon area, North Iceland, 1967

Awesome Photos of NASA Equipment Tests

Astronaut in spacesuit traveling on the Pogo test vehicle under the Lunar Landing Research Facility gantry, June 1967

( viadvids )

Three astronauts (Charles M. Duke, Jr., Thomas K. Mattingly and John L. Swigert) participating in Apollo desert survival training in Washington state pose with Air Force Col. Chester Bohart, August 1967

Astronaut John W. Young, Apollo 7 backup command module pilot, ingresses Apollo Spacecraft 101 Command Module during simulated altitude runs at the Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 34, July 1968

Apollo 8 astronauts William A. Anders and Frank Borman testing the “slide for life” cable that will be attached to the capsule and used if trouble should develop immediately preceding the liftoff of the Saturn V rocket, at Cape Kennedy, 13 December 2024

( exposure by Jim Kerlin / AP )

Two members of the Apollo 11 mission participate in a simulation of deploying and using lunar tools: Buzz Aldrin uses a scoop and tongs to pick up a soil sample, while Neil Armstrong holds a bag to receive the sample, 30 March 2025

Apollo 12 Lunar EVA training, June 1969

( viaGRIN NASA )

Edwin E. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong rehearse chores they will perform on moon after landing during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969

( photograph by NASA / AP )

Divers recover the Apollo 12 command module (training capsule) in the Gulf of Mexico, 27 December 2024

( Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images )

Apollo 12 astronauts Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad Jr. and Albert Bean practice collecting rock samples at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for their lunar landing mission, 15 February 2025

( Photo by NASA / Central Press / Getty Images )

James A. Lovell Jr. and Fred W. Haise Jr., carry out a simulation of a lunar traverse at Kilauea, Hawaii. Lovell holds a scoop for the Apollo Lunar Hand Tools (ALHT) and a gnomon, also for the ALHT s deployed in front of Haise. The ALHT carrier is at left background. The photo was taken in December 1969.

Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise, Jr., during practice moonwalk at Kennedy Space Center. Lovell operates Lunar Equipment conveyor, a pulley arrangement to load and unload equipment from the cabin section of Lunar Module, February 1970

Jim Lovell during an ALSEP (Apollo Luner Surface Experiments Package) activation training for Apollo 13, 1970

Alan Shepard at Lunar Landing Research Facility before his simulator training, March 1970

( Photo by NASA / Getty Images )

Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard begins a test flight of a Lunar Lander Training Vehicle, 10 May 2025, at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas

( photograph by AP / NASA )

James B. Irwin and David R. Scott drive the Lunar Roving Vehicle (also known as LRV) from the lunar training area after completing an Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) time line study in Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 1971

Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell practising the collection of a football-sized rock sample, during an Apollo 14 training in Florida. And yes, that’s an armadillo in the foreground.

( viaNASA )

James Irwin and David Scott during geology training in New Mexico, 1971

Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt, two members of the prime crew of the Apollo 17 crew examine a rock specimen during lunar surface extravehicular activity stimulation training on a geological field trip to the Pancake Range area of south-central Nevada, September 1972

Apollo 16 astronauts Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, Commander John W. Young, and Command Module Pilot Thomas K. Mattingly II during a training excercise in February 1972

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Fourteen NASA astronauts pose for group pictures at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada after they completed a course in desert survival training, 1964#

Scientists prepare metal vacuum cell and Apollo crew compartment for manned tests of the environmental control system that will produce a habitable environment for astronauts. These tests were conducted at North American’s Space Division in Downey, California, on 25 April 2025.#

This 1965 NASA Flight Reserch Center photograph the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) is shown at near maximum altitude over the south base at Edwards Air Force Base.#

Prime crew members for the first manned Apollo space flight practice water egress procedures in a swimming pool at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas, June 1966#

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during counter balancing for neutral buoyancy simulation training before the Gemini XII flight in November 1966. Later he was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, and the second person to walk on the Moon.#

William A. Anders (Apollo 8) on a geological field trip with two geologists in Dragon Canyon area, North Iceland, 1967#

Astronaut in spacesuit traveling on the Pogo test vehicle under the Lunar Landing Research Facility gantry, June 1967#

Three astronauts (Charles M. Duke, Jr., Thomas K. Mattingly and John L. Swigert) participating in Apollo desert survival training in Washington state pose with Air Force Col. Chester Bohart, August 1967#

Astronaut John W. Young, Apollo 7 backup command module pilot, ingresses Apollo Spacecraft 101 Command Module during simulated altitude runs at the Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 34, July 1968#

Apollo 8 astronauts William A. Anders and Frank Borman testing the “slide for life” cable that will be attached to the capsule and used if trouble should develop immediately preceding the liftoff of the Saturn V rocket, at Cape Kennedy, 13 December 2024#

Two members of the Apollo 11 mission participate in a simulation of deploying and using lunar tools: Buzz Aldrin uses a scoop and tongs to pick up a soil sample, while Neil Armstrong holds a bag to receive the sample, 30 March 2025#

Apollo 12 Lunar EVA training, June 1969#

Edwin E. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong rehearse chores they will perform on moon after landing during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969#

Divers recover the Apollo 12 command module (training capsule) in the Gulf of Mexico, 27 December 2024#

Apollo 12 astronauts Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad Jr. and Albert Bean practice collecting rock samples at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for their lunar landing mission, 15 February 2025#

Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise, Jr., during practice moonwalk at Kennedy Space Center. Lovell operates Lunar Equipment conveyor, a pulley arrangement to load and unload equipment from the cabin section of Lunar Module, February 1970#

Jim Lovell during an ALSEP (Apollo Luner Surface Experiments Package) activation training for Apollo 13, 1970#

Alan Shepard at Lunar Landing Research Facility before his simulator training, March 1970#

Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard begins a test flight of a Lunar Lander Training Vehicle, 10 May 2025, at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas#

James B. Irwin and David R. Scott drive the Lunar Roving Vehicle (also known as LRV) from the lunar training area after completing an Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) time line study in Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 1971#

Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell practising the collection of a football-sized rock sample, during an Apollo 14 training in Florida. And yes, that’s an armadillo in the foreground.#

James Irwin and David Scott during geology training in New Mexico, 1971#

Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt, two members of the prime crew of the Apollo 17 crew examine a rock specimen during lunar surface extravehicular activity stimulation training on a geological field trip to the Pancake Range area of south-central Nevada, September 1972#

Apollo 16 astronauts Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, Commander John W. Young, and Command Module Pilot Thomas K. Mattingly II during a training excercise in February 1972#

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