At 180 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter, the Falcon 9 rocket is tiny in comparison to the football-field-long Saturn V rockets that carried Apollo spacecraft into orbit.

CNN: Historic launch of private rocket heralds new era

But once the space program commenced at nearby Cape Canaveral, Hudson could catch a glimpse of another world from her front yard as Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft lofted into orbit.

FORBES: Linda Hudson, First Female CEO In Defense, Reflects On What It Takes

In 1967, The first Saturn V rocket carrying the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

CNN: Saturday,

The camp elders (or so the grownups seemed) arranged to set up a rented television in the recreation hall, so we could all gather round the evening of Sunday, July 20 and watch the Apollo 11 spacecraft, commanded by Armstrong, achieve its mission.

FORBES: Neil Armstrong Dies; Two Takes On His 'Giant Leap For Mankind'

In 1971, the three-man U.S. spacecraft Apollo 14 was launched to the moon.

CNN: Saturday,

Nasa is due to retire its space shuttles next year and replace them with the Orion spacecraft, an Apollo-like capsule that would launch on a new rocket called Ares 1.

BBC: Moon astronauts urge Mars mission

This will be the first spacecraft of its kind since the Apollo command module.

CNN: Bush: 'It is time for America to take the next steps' in space

Between 1966 and 1967, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft to the moon to capture images before the arrival of Apollo 11, which landed on the lunar suface July 20, 1969.

FORBES: Fading History: Vintage Films And Photos Crumbling To Dust

For example, instead of the lunar rendezvous method that NASA chose for the Apollo program, the player can opt for Earth-orbit rendezvous or even direct-ascent where a single giant spacecraft lifts off from Earth and lands on the Moon.

FORBES: The Return of "Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space" Game