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Apollo 8
Launched: 21 December 1968 UT
12:51:00 (7:51:00 AM EST)
Lunar Orbit: 24 December 1968
Returned to Earth: 27 December 1968 UT 15:51:42 (10:51:42 AM EST)
Frank Borman, commander
James A. Lovell, command module pilot
William A. Anders, lunar module pilot
This spacecraft was the first of the
Apollo series to successfully orbit the moon, and the first manned spacecraft to
leave Earth's gravity and reach the Moon. The mission achieved operational
experience and tested the Apollo command module systems, including
communications, tracking, and life-support, in cis-lunar space and lunar orbit,
and allowed evaluation of crew performance on a lunar orbiting mission. The crew
photographed the lunar surface, both farside and nearside, obtaining information
on topography and landmarks as well as other scientific information necessary
for future Apollo landings. Additionally, six live television transmission
sessions were done by the crew during the mission, including the famous
Christmas Eve broadcast in which the astronauts read from the book of Genesis.
All systems operated within allowable parameters and all objectives of the
mission were achieved. The flight carried a three man crew: Commander Frank
Borman, Command Module Pilot James A. Lovell, Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot
William A. Anders.
The Apollo 8 spacecraft consisted of a
command module similar to Apollo 7 except that the forward pressure and ablative
hatches were replaced by a combined forward hatch, which would be used for
transfer to the Lunar Module on later missions. The spacecraft mass of 28,817 kg
is the mass of the CSM including propellants and expendables. A Lunar Module was
not used on the Apollo 8 mission but a Lunar Module Test Article which was
equivalent in mass (9027 kg) to a Lunar Module was mounted in the
spacecraft/launch vehicle adapter as ballast for mass loading purposes.
The spacecraft was launched on December
21, 1968 at 12:51:00 UT (7:51 a.m. EST), and was placed in a 190.6 km x 183.2 km
Earth parking orbit with a period of 88.2 minutes and an inclination of 32.51
degrees. At 15:41:37 UT a third-stage burn injected the Apollo spacecraft into
translunar trajectory. Orbit insertion took place on 24 December at 09:59:20 UT
into an elliptical 310.6 km by 111.2 km lunar orbit. Two orbits later a second
burn placed Apollo 8 into a near-circular 110.4 by 112.3 km orbit for eight
orbits. The transearth injection burn took place on 25 December at 06:10:16 UT
after a total of 10 lunar orbits.
Apollo
8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 27 December 1968 at 15:51:42 UT
(10:51:42 a.m. EST) after a mission elapsed time of 147 hrs, 0 mins, 42 secs.
The splashdown point was 8 deg 7.5 min N, 165 deg 1.2 min W, 1,000 miles SSW of
Hawaii and 5 km (3 mi) from the recovery ship USS Yorktown. The Apollo 8 Command
Module is on display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago,
Illinois
Credit: NASA
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