Source: Robert Kurson. Rocket Men - The Daring Odyssey of
Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon (2018)
Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon (2018)
By the time Apollo 8 launched, NASA was already considering two possible sites for a Moon landing, both in the Sea of Tranquility. If the Moon landings were timed properly, those two sites would have moderate temperatures and long shadows, which would make searching for a smooth spot to land much easier. One of Apollo 8’s tasks was to confirm that its own trajectory could be used to reach the landing sites, and to get a much closer look at the possible landing spots. As Apollo 8 concluded the fifth of its ten orbits around the Moon, nothing in Mission Control caused more worry at this point than Trans Earth Injection (TEI), the maneuver to escape lunar orbit and return to Earth.
Seven hours remained until TEI, but Apollo 8 had to prepare for its third live television broadcast. This would be the broadcast seen by the most viewers on Christmas Eve night in the US, and Borman had been authorized to decide what was appropriate to televise. NASA estimated that the broadcast would have the highest global television and radio ratings in history. Borman realized that lack of sleep had become an issue, especially for Lovell and Anders (in his opinion), and he told Mission Control that he was canceling most of the tasks for the next orbit. Borman had reached a point of exasperation, especially with the flight planners, whom he thought loaded Apollo 8 with far too much to do while orbiting the Moon. On Borman’s repeated insistence, which became orders, Lovell and Anders rested for a couple of hours. When contact with Mission Control was reestablished, there were only two hours remaining before the live television broadcast on Christmas Eve.
Seven hours remained until TEI, but Apollo 8 had to prepare for its third live television broadcast. This would be the broadcast seen by the most viewers on Christmas Eve night in the US, and Borman had been authorized to decide what was appropriate to televise. NASA estimated that the broadcast would have the highest global television and radio ratings in history. Borman realized that lack of sleep had become an issue, especially for Lovell and Anders (in his opinion), and he told Mission Control that he was canceling most of the tasks for the next orbit. Borman had reached a point of exasperation, especially with the flight planners, whom he thought loaded Apollo 8 with far too much to do while orbiting the Moon. On Borman’s repeated insistence, which became orders, Lovell and Anders rested for a couple of hours. When contact with Mission Control was reestablished, there were only two hours remaining before the live television broadcast on Christmas Eve.
One of Apollo 8’s jobs was to investigate the effects of “Mascons” (Mass Concentrations) on a spacecraft’s orbit. These areas of increased density on the Moon’s crust changed the gravity field, which could alter the trajectory while in orbit, and if not compensated for, could lead to crashing on the Moon. With repeated orbits, it appeared to Mission Control that mascons were detectable, but the effect on Apollo 8 was slight. However, the LEM would be flying much lower, and therefore would be more affected, so the information from Apollo 8 was invaluable.
With one hour before the Christmas Eve broadcast, the three astronauts were still unsure how they wanted to conduct the broadcast on their end. Borman didn’t want any levity this time, knowing they needed words for the moment and occasion. Before the mission, Borman asked a former war correspondent that he knew for advice on what to say for the broadcast, and he proved to be of no assistance. However, the man told Borman what his wife had suggested for the broadcast, and Borman later told Lovell and Anders of the wife’s suggestion. All three were in agreement that the approach was the right message at the right time, and they also agreed to keep their mouths shut on the matter, even to their wives.
With one hour before the Christmas Eve broadcast, the three astronauts were still unsure how they wanted to conduct the broadcast on their end. Borman didn’t want any levity this time, knowing they needed words for the moment and occasion. Before the mission, Borman asked a former war correspondent that he knew for advice on what to say for the broadcast, and he proved to be of no assistance. However, the man told Borman what his wife had suggested for the broadcast, and Borman later told Lovell and Anders of the wife’s suggestion. All three were in agreement that the approach was the right message at the right time, and they also agreed to keep their mouths shut on the matter, even to their wives.
Apollo 8 started their broadcast by showing the Earth through a window, and Borman started to describe how Apollo 8 had spent Christmas Eve doing a variety of mission-oriented tasks. Borman then went on to describe his impression of the Moon and what he had observed, as did Lovell and Anders. After that, the crew commented on the Sea of Tranquility, since they had a close look at that part of the Moon while in orbit. Time was ending for the broadcast, and Borman had one more thing to do, and he signaled Anders, who said “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send you”.
No one in Mission Control or anywhere else had an inkling of what was to come next. Borman, based on the advice he received from the former war correspondent’s wife, had the crew read a section of the Book of Genesis, starting with Anders, then Lovell, and then himself to close. After reading the selected passages, Borman ended the broadcast by saying “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God Bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth”. A moment later, television screens around the world went dark. Inside Mission Control, no one moved, then one after another, the scientists and engineers in Houston started to cry, and Walter Cronkite fought back tears as he came back on the air.
No one in Mission Control or anywhere else had an inkling of what was to come next. Borman, based on the advice he received from the former war correspondent’s wife, had the crew read a section of the Book of Genesis, starting with Anders, then Lovell, and then himself to close. After reading the selected passages, Borman ended the broadcast by saying “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God Bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth”. A moment later, television screens around the world went dark. Inside Mission Control, no one moved, then one after another, the scientists and engineers in Houston started to cry, and Walter Cronkite fought back tears as he came back on the air.
On Apollo 8, Borman wasn’t sure that the crew’s message had at all resonated, but CapCom (Mattingly) assured Borman that their broadcast had come through clearly. The crew now had to focus on TEI in order to return to the Earth. Apollo 8 was orbiting the Moon at 3600 mph, and needed to increase its speed to 6000 mph to escape lunar gravity. Only the service module engine could do the job for TEI, and that engine had to burn for just the right amount of time with the right amount of thrust in the right direction; and there was the possibility that the engine would not light up at all. With 71 minutes before TEI, Mission Control notified Apollo 8 that Trans Earth Injection was a go, and the crew went through their final preparation procedures, doing their best to keep the bright Sun out of their eyes.
On the tenth orbit as with the first, it would be over the far side of the Moon when the service module engine would need to be fired up, and there would be no communication possible with Mission Control. The burn was to last 3 minutes and 18 seconds, and if all went well communication with Apollo 8 would be reestablished at a precise predicted time. Apollo 8 coming home safely would mean that the US had completely beat the USSR to the Moon, and by that point in the mission, all three astronauts were ready to return to the Earth and their families. For Lovell, returning safely also meant that he would walk on the Moon on a later Apollo mission..
On Apollo 8, 20 minutes remained until the TEI burn, and the crew had already maneuvered the spacecraft to the necessary altitude based on the calculations from Mission Control. Anders made sure the flight recorder was active, and inside the cabin the number 99 flashed on the computer, asking the crew for the go-ahead to fire up the service module engine, and Lovell pressed the “Proceed” button.
On the tenth orbit as with the first, it would be over the far side of the Moon when the service module engine would need to be fired up, and there would be no communication possible with Mission Control. The burn was to last 3 minutes and 18 seconds, and if all went well communication with Apollo 8 would be reestablished at a precise predicted time. Apollo 8 coming home safely would mean that the US had completely beat the USSR to the Moon, and by that point in the mission, all three astronauts were ready to return to the Earth and their families. For Lovell, returning safely also meant that he would walk on the Moon on a later Apollo mission..
On Apollo 8, 20 minutes remained until the TEI burn, and the crew had already maneuvered the spacecraft to the necessary altitude based on the calculations from Mission Control. Anders made sure the flight recorder was active, and inside the cabin the number 99 flashed on the computer, asking the crew for the go-ahead to fire up the service module engine, and Lovell pressed the “Proceed” button.
In Mission Control, 12:19 am on Christmas Day was the time Apollo 8 should be reacquired from the far side of the Moon if the service module engine fired properly, which meant that TEI was successful. A NASA listening station in Australia reported reacquisition, but Mission Control needed to confirm it on their end. CapCom (Mattingly) kept calling for Apollo 8, but there was no response, and over four minutes passed since the communication from the listening station in Australia. To Mission Control, it was an unthinkable delay, and then suddenly Lovell’s voice came through saying “Houston, Apollo 8, over”, with CapCom (Mattingly) responding “Hello, Apollo 8, loud and clear”. Lovell then said “Roger, please be informed - there is a Santa Claus”.
Mission Control was so relieved that no one asked why there was a delay in responding to CapCom. The reason why turned out to be simple, in that Anders had been so focused on confirming the shutdown of the service module engine, and then taking photographs, that he had forgotten to activate the spacecraft’s antennae; once the antenna was a go, communication was reestablished. And, forgotten as well at the moment due to the delay was that the service module engine had performed flawlessly when it was needed the most.
Kraft finally relaxed, and Slayton stepped forward to directly communicate with Apollo 8, taking over for CapCom (Mattingly) in order to congratulate Apollo 8. However, no one in Mission Control or Apollo 8 could relax for more than a few seconds in that Apollo 8 wasn’t home free yet; the crew still needed to travel 240,000 miles, jettison the service module, and then successfully reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in the command module for splashdown.
Mission Control was so relieved that no one asked why there was a delay in responding to CapCom. The reason why turned out to be simple, in that Anders had been so focused on confirming the shutdown of the service module engine, and then taking photographs, that he had forgotten to activate the spacecraft’s antennae; once the antenna was a go, communication was reestablished. And, forgotten as well at the moment due to the delay was that the service module engine had performed flawlessly when it was needed the most.
Kraft finally relaxed, and Slayton stepped forward to directly communicate with Apollo 8, taking over for CapCom (Mattingly) in order to congratulate Apollo 8. However, no one in Mission Control or Apollo 8 could relax for more than a few seconds in that Apollo 8 wasn’t home free yet; the crew still needed to travel 240,000 miles, jettison the service module, and then successfully reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in the command module for splashdown.
One hour after the TEI burn, Apollo 8 was 3225 miles away from the Moon, traveling at 4125 mph. Apollo 8’s speed would decrease until the Earth’s gravity took over, at which point the speed of the spacecraft would steadily increase. Apollo 8 and Mission Control would need to make mid-course trajectory adjustments, but those would be later, so it was time for the crew to get some sleep. Anders put Apollo 8 into rotisserie mode, and he was in charge of the spacecraft for 3.5 hours while Borman and Lovell slept, and then he would be relieved.
At about 39,000 miles from the Moon was the equi-gravisphere, where the Earth’s gravity became dominant, and eventually Apollo 8 would reach 24,500 mph as it approached Earth, but that was 200,000 miles away. There were still two television broadcasts to go for Apollo 8, and shortly before the first of the two, Borman prepared for a planned midcourse trajectory correction, firing thrusters for 14 seconds. Twenty-four minutes later was the first of the final two television broadcasts, where the crew showed life in the command module in zero gravity, such as exercising and eating, what they ate and how it was packaged, etc. All three astronauts smiled and appropriately joked around during the broadcast. Afterwards, the flight plan allowed for more downtime for the crew, which allowed all three astronauts to rest and reflect.
At about 39,000 miles from the Moon was the equi-gravisphere, where the Earth’s gravity became dominant, and eventually Apollo 8 would reach 24,500 mph as it approached Earth, but that was 200,000 miles away. There were still two television broadcasts to go for Apollo 8, and shortly before the first of the two, Borman prepared for a planned midcourse trajectory correction, firing thrusters for 14 seconds. Twenty-four minutes later was the first of the final two television broadcasts, where the crew showed life in the command module in zero gravity, such as exercising and eating, what they ate and how it was packaged, etc. All three astronauts smiled and appropriately joked around during the broadcast. Afterwards, the flight plan allowed for more downtime for the crew, which allowed all three astronauts to rest and reflect.