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Apollo 8



The cruise back to Earth was mostly a time for the crew to relax and monitor the spacecraft. As long as the trajectory specialists had calculated everything correctly, the spacecraft would re-enter 2½ days after TEI and splashdown in the Pacific.

On Christmas afternoon, the crew made their fifth and final television broadcast. This time they gave a tour of the spacecraft, showing how an astronaut lived in space. When they had finished broadcasting they found a small present from Deke Slayton in the food locker—real turkey with stuffing and three miniature bottles of brandy (which remained unopened). There were also small presents to the crew from their wives.

The Apollo 8 Command Module on the deck of the USS Yorktown
The Apollo 8 Command Module on the deck of the USS Yorktown

After two uneventful days the crew prepared for re-entry. The computer would control the re-entry and all the crew had to do was put the spacecraft in the correct attitude, blunt end forward. If the computer broke down, Borman would take over.

Once the Command Module was separated from the Service Module, the astronauts were committed to re-entry. Six minutes before they hit the top of the atmosphere, the crew saw the Moon rising above the Earth's horizon, just as had been predicted by the trajectory specialists.[35] As they hit the thin outer atmosphere they noticed it was becoming hazy outside as glowing plasma formed around the capsule. The capsule started slowing down and the deceleration peaked at 6 g (59 m/s²).[16] With the computer controlling the descent by changing the attitude of the capsule, Apollo 8 rose briefly like a skipping stone before descending to the ocean. At 30,000 feet (9 km) the drogue parachute stabilized the spacecraft and was followed at 10,000 feet (3 km) by the three main parachutes. The spacecraft splashdown position was estimated to be 8°6′N, 165°1′W.[35][36]

When it hit the water, the parachutes dragged the spacecraft over and left it upside down, in what was termed Stable 2 position. As they were buffeted by a 10-foot (3 m) swell, Borman was sick, waiting for the three flotation balloons to right the capsule.[18] It was 43 minutes after splashdown before the first frogman from the USS Yorktown arrived, as the capsule had landed before sunrise. Forty-five minutes later, the crew was safe on the deck of the aircraft carrier.[35][16]

The command module is now displayed at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, along with a collection of personal items from the flight donated by Lovell and the spacesuit worn by Frank Borman.[37] Jim Lovell's spacesuit can be found at NASA's Glenn Research Center.[38]

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Historical importance

Apollo 8 came at the end of 1968, a year that had seen much upheaval around the world. Yet, TIME magazine chose the crew of Apollo 8 as their Men of the Year for 1968, recognizing them as the people who most influenced events in the preceding year.[39] They had been the first people ever to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth and orbit another celestial body. They had survived a mission that even the crew themselves had rated as only having a fifty-fifty chance of fully succeeding. The effect of Apollo 8 can be summed up by a telegram from a stranger, received by Borman after the mission, that simply stated, "Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968."[40]

One of the most famous aspects of the flight was the Earthrise picture that was taken as they came around for their fourth orbit of the Moon. Although it was not the first image taken of the whole Earth nor would it be the last, this was the first time that humans had taken such a picture. Some regard the picture as being the start of the environmentalist movement, with the first Earth Day in 1970.[41]

The mission was the most widely covered by the media since the first American orbital flight, Mercury-Atlas 6 by John Glenn in 1962. There were 1200 journalists covering the mission, with the BBC coverage being broadcast in 54 countries in 15 different languages. The Soviet newspaper Pravda featured a quote from Boris Nikolaevich Petrov, Chairman of the Soviet Intercosmos program, who described the flight as an "outstanding achievement of American space sciences and technology".[42] It is estimated that a quarter of the people alive at the time saw — either live or delayed — the Christmas Eve transmission during the ninth orbit of the Moon. Touring the world after the mission, Borman met with Pope Paul VI who told him "I have spent my entire life trying to say to the world what you did on Christmas Eve."[43]

Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair later caused controversy by bringing a lawsuit against NASA over the reading from Genesis.[44] O'Hair wished the courts to ban US astronauts — who were all Government employees — from public prayer in space.[44] Though the case was rejected by the US Supreme Court for lack of jurisdiction,[45] it caused NASA to be skittish about the issue of religion throughout the rest of the Apollo program. Buzz Aldrin, on Apollo 11, took communion on the surface of the moon after landing;[46] he refrained from mentioning this publicly for several years, and only obliquely referred to it at the time.[46]

In 1969, the US Postal Service issued a postage stamp (Scott # 1371) commemorating the Apollo 8 flight around the moon. The stamp featured a detail of the famous photograph of the Earthrise over the moon taken by Anders on Christmas Eve, and the words, "In the beginning God..."[47]

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Mission parameters

The mission parameters for Apollo 8 differed significantly from those of previous flights, for several reasons. As the first manned spacecraft to orbit multiple celestial bodies, the mission recorded two different sets of orbital parameters. The mission was also the first to execute a translunar injection.

While in parking orbit around the Earth, Apollo 8 maintained altitude between a perigee of 112.8 miles (181.5 km) and an apogee of 118.9 miles (191.3 km). The inclination of this orbit, or its angle in relation to the equator, was 32.51°. Each orbit had a period of 88.17 minutes.[16]

In contrast, the spacecraft orbited the Moon at more varying altitudes. At its lowest altitude above the moon's surface, the spacecraft had a pericynthion of 69.5 miles (111.9 km), while the highest altitude, or apocynthion, was 193.3 miles (311.1 km). The spacecraft took 128.7 minutes to complete each of its 10 circuits around the Moon, at an inclination of 12°.[16]

The spacecraft began its translunar injection burn on December 21, 1968, at 15:41:38 UTC. The burn represented the second of two burns on the Saturn V rocket's S-IVB third stage. The rocket burned for a total of 318 seconds, propelling the 63,531 lb (28,817 kg) spacecraft from an Earth parking orbit velocity of 25,567 ft/s (7793 m/s) to a translunar trajectory velocity of 35,505 ft/s (10,822 m/s).[16]

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In film

Apollo 8's historic mission has been shown and referenced in several forms, both documentary and fiction. The various television transmissions and 16 mm footage shot by the crew of Apollo 8 was compiled and released by Spacecraft Films as a three-disc DVD set in 2003.[48] Portions of the Apollo 8 Mission can be seen in the 1989 documentary For All Mankind, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for Outstanding Documentary.[49]

Portions of the Apollo 8 mission are dramatized in the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode "1968".[50] The S-IVB stage of Apollo 8 was also portrayed as the location of an alien device in the 1970 UFO episode "Conflict".[51]

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See also

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References

  1. ^ Collins, Michael; Charles Lindbergh (2001). Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys. Cooper Square Press, 288–294. ISBN 0-8154-1028-X. 
  2. ^ (1975) "Appendix 6 - Crews and Support for Manned Apollo Flights", The Apollo Spacecraft — A Chronology. Volume IV. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  3. ^ Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. NASA Langley Research Center (1975). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  4. ^ a b Dick Lattimer (June 1985). "All We Did was Fly to the Moon". Whispering Eagle Press. ISBN 978-0961122805. 
  5. ^ (1975) "Part 2(D) - July through September 1967", The Apollo Spacecraft — A Chronology. Volume IV. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  6. ^ a b c (1975) "Part 2(N) - August / September 1968", The Apollo Spacecraft — A Chronology. Volume IV. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  7. ^ a b Baker, David (1981). The History of Manned Space Flight. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54377-X. 
  8. ^ Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson (1979). "Chapter 11 Part 5", Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  9. ^ Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson (1979). "Chapter 11 Part 2", Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  10. ^ Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson (1979). "Chapter 11 Part 3", Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  11. ^ Astronauts look back 30 years after historic lunar launch. Canadian Online Explorer (1998-12-21). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Zimmerman, Robert (1998). Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8. Four Wall Eight Windows. ISBN 1-56858-118-1. 
  13. ^ Lindbergh, Anne Morrow (1969). Earth Shine. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. 
  14. ^ a b c d e Bilstein, Roger E. (1999). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch. DIANE Publishing, 360–370. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. 
  15. ^ .Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson (1979). "Chapter 10 Part 5", Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. 
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p (2001) Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 
  17. ^ David S. Akens (1971). Saturn Illustrated Chronology: Appendix H — Saturn at the Cape. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson (1979). "Chapter 11 Part 6", Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-29. 
  19. ^ Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 1: Earth Orbit and Translunal Injection. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  20. ^ J. Vernon Bailey (1975). Biomedical Results of Apollo; Radiation Protection and Instrumentation. NASA, Johnson Space Center. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  21. ^ a b c Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 1: Maroon Team. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  22. ^ Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 2: Green Team. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  23. ^ Collins, Michael; Charles Lindbergh (2001). Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys. Cooper Square Press, 306. ISBN 0-8154-1028-X. 
  24. ^ Quine, Tony (April 2007). "Addicted to space: An appreciation of Anousheh Ansari, Part II". 'Spaceflight' 49 (4): 144. British Interplanetary Society. ISSN 0038-6340. 
  25. ^ Kozlovskaya, Inessa B., et al (2004). The Effects of Long-Duration Space Flight on Eye, Head, and Trunk Coordination During Locomotion. NASA Johnson Space Center. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  26. ^ a b c d e Jim Lovell, Jeffery Kluger (1994). Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-67029-2. 
  27. ^ a b Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 3: The Black Team — Approaching the Moon. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  28. ^ a b c National Space Science Data Center — Master Catalog Display. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 4: Lunar Orbits 4, 5 and 6. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
  30. ^ a b c d Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 4: Lunar Orbits 1, 2 and 3. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
  31. ^ De Groot, Gerard J. (2006). "Merry Christmas from the Moon", Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest. New York University Press. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  32. ^ Benson, Charles D. (1978). "Chapter 20-9: Apollo 8 - A Christmas Gift", Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  33. ^ Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 4: Final Orbit and Trans-Earth Injection. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  34. ^ a b Apollo 8 astronauts look back 30 years after historic flight. CNN (1998-12-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  35. ^ a b c Woods, W. David; Frank O'Brien (2006-04-22). Apollo 8 Day 6: Maroon Team, Splashdown. Apollo Flight Journal. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  36. ^ NASA Historical Data Book — Volume II — Programs and Projects 1958 - 1968 (PDF). NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  37. ^ The Apollo 8 Command Module. Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  38. ^ Heroes in Space Honored at NASA. NASA Glenn Space Research Center (2004-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  39. ^ Men of the Year. TIME Magazine (1969-01-03). Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  40. ^ Chaikin, Andrew (1994). A Man On The Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. Viking, 134. ISBN 0-670-81446-6. 
  41. ^ Peggy, Wilhide (July/August 2000). "New Views for A New Century". Aerospace Technology Innovation 8 (4). 
  42. ^ Boris Nikolaevich Petrov. ""O polete Apollona-8" (On the flight of Apollo-8)", Moscow, USSR: Pravda, 1968-12-30. Retrieved on 2008-02-13. ((Russian)) 
  43. ^ Dorothy Brush (2008-01-02). Oh, what will the new year bring?. Crossville Chronicle; Crossville, TN, USA. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  44. ^ a b Chaikin, Andrew (1994). A Man On The Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. Viking, 623. ISBN 0-670-81446-6. 
  45. ^ O'Hair v. Paine, 397 U.S. 531. Findlaw (1970). Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  46. ^ a b Chaikin, Andrew (1994). A Man On The Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. Viking, 204,623. ISBN 0-670-81446-6. 
  47. ^ Postage Stamps of the United States First Issued in 1969. 1847USA. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  48. ^ Apollo 8: Leaving the Cradle. 2003, Spacecraft Films.
  49. ^ Sundance Film Festival Awards 1985-2007 (PDF). Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  50. ^ "1968". Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick — Producers. From the Earth to the Moon. HBO. April 1998.
  51. ^ "Conflict". UFO (TV series). 1970.

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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Missions of the Apollo program
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Time Persons of the Year

Mohammed Mosaddeq (1951) · Elizabeth II (1952) · Konrad Adenauer (1953) · John Foster Dulles (1954) · Harlow Curtice (1955) · Hungarian Freedom Fighter (1956) · Nikita Khrushchev (1957) · Charles de Gaulle (1958) · Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) · U.S. Scientists: George Beadle / Charles Draper / John Enders / Donald A. Glaser / Joshua Lederberg / Willard Libby / Linus Pauling / Edward Purcell / Isidor Rabi / Emilio Segrè / William Shockley / Edward Teller / Charles Townes / James Van Allen / Robert Woodward (1960) · John F. Kennedy (1961) · Pope John XXIII (1962) · Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) · Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) · William Westmoreland (1965) · The Generation Twenty-Five and Under (1966) · Lyndon B. Johnson (1967) · The Apollo 8 Astronauts: William Anders / Frank Borman / Jim Lovell (1968) · The Middle Americans (1969) · Willy Brandt (1970) · Richard Nixon (1971) · Henry Kissinger / Richard Nixon (1972) · John Sirica (1973) · King Faisal (1974) · American Women: Susan Brownmiller / Kathleen Byerly / Alison Cheek / Jill Conway / Betty Ford / Ella Grasso / Carla Hills / Barbara Jordan / Billie Jean King / Carol Sutton / Susie Sharp / Addie L. Wyatt (1975)
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