Landing humans on the Moon required the most sudden burst of technological creativity and the largest commitment of resources 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.
Apollo set several major human space flight milestones. It stands alone in sending crewed missions beyond low Earth Orbit. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, and Apollo 11 was the first to land humans on one.