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)
The screens at Mission Control changed from having Apollo 8 202,700 miles from Earth to 38,760 miles from the Moon, and the spacecraft passed 2700 mph and was gaining speed by the minute. Almost exactly 2.5 days into the flight, Apollo 8 and Mission Control readied for the second (and final) mid-course correction burn heading to the Moon. The burn was successful, using four thrusters for eleven seconds, and in eight hours Apollo 8 would rendezvous with the Moon. At 69 hours into the flight, Apollo 8 would pass in front of the Moon, missing its surface by 69 miles, a distance that was chosen with the LEM in mind. That distance wasn’t too close or too far, given that circumstances had to be taken into account for both the LEM and the orbiting command module in future Apollo missions.
If the service module engine didn’t work for some reason, Apollo 8 would slingshot around the far side of the Moon and return to Earth. In order to repeatedly orbit the Moon, Apollo 8 had to slow down in order to be captured by the Moon’s gravity, and the only way to do that was to fire the service module engine against the direction of travel for about four minutes with just the right amount of thrust.
If the service module engine didn’t work for some reason, Apollo 8 would slingshot around the far side of the Moon and return to Earth. In order to repeatedly orbit the Moon, Apollo 8 had to slow down in order to be captured by the Moon’s gravity, and the only way to do that was to fire the service module engine against the direction of travel for about four minutes with just the right amount of thrust.
If the engine fired for too short a time or without enough thrust, Apollo 8 might slingshot around the Moon but with a screwed-up trajectory for its return, making reentry an iffy proposition, or the spacecraft might be cast out into space and get lost. If the engine fired too long or with too much thrust, Apollo 8 would crash into the Moon’s surface. When Apollo 8 traveled around the far side of the Moon, there would be no communications with Mission Control until it reestablished direct line of sight with the Earth. For about 35 minutes, Mission Control would not know if the engine had done its job until communications were reestablished. If Apollo 8 made contact as scheduled, all was good, but if there was a delay that spelled trouble.
At 68 hours and 4 minutes into the flight, Mission Control gave Apollo 8 authorization to go for Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI), which meant firing the engine in about 30 minutes. Apollo 8 was traveling at more than 5000 mph, and the Moon was orbiting the Earth at 2160 mph, so was there was some uncertainty that Apollo 8 might well crash into the Moon despite all the painstaking calculations done by NASA experts. Two minutes before Apollo 8 went behind the Moon, its speed was 5125 mph, and right before Loss of Signal (LOS) occurred, Lovell told Mission Control “We’ll see you on the other side”. The sunlight disappeared, and Lovell saw a bounty of constellations that took his breath away, and then he saw pure darkness; he realized that he was looking at the Moon.
At 68 hours and 4 minutes into the flight, Mission Control gave Apollo 8 authorization to go for Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI), which meant firing the engine in about 30 minutes. Apollo 8 was traveling at more than 5000 mph, and the Moon was orbiting the Earth at 2160 mph, so was there was some uncertainty that Apollo 8 might well crash into the Moon despite all the painstaking calculations done by NASA experts. Two minutes before Apollo 8 went behind the Moon, its speed was 5125 mph, and right before Loss of Signal (LOS) occurred, Lovell told Mission Control “We’ll see you on the other side”. The sunlight disappeared, and Lovell saw a bounty of constellations that took his breath away, and then he saw pure darkness; he realized that he was looking at the Moon.
LOS for Apollo 8 was not the first time astronauts were unable to communicate with Mission Control or the various listening stations while orbiting the Earth, due to the Earth’s curvature, but this was the first time the Moon was the reason. It was with great anticipation and dread that Mission Control waited to see if reacquisition with Apollo 8 via communications was on time. LOS occurred at the exact second that Mission Control predicted, which caused Borman to lighten up considerably. For the next 35 minutes, Mission Control had no way to monitor Apollo 8.
For Borman, Lovell, and Anders, they realized that they were the first to reach the Moon, but they had work to do, in that before reigniting the service module engine, checklists had to be completed and the spacecraft had to be properly positioned for the engine’s reignition. The crew was able to see the surface of the Moon about 2.5 minutes before reigniting the engine, to the second when Mission Control said that would happen; additionally, the crew were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon. Five seconds before reigniting the engine, Lovell saw the flashing number 99 on the display that signaled all was ready, which meant the computer was asking for the go-ahead to proceed with firing up the engine.
For Borman, Lovell, and Anders, they realized that they were the first to reach the Moon, but they had work to do, in that before reigniting the service module engine, checklists had to be completed and the spacecraft had to be properly positioned for the engine’s reignition. The crew was able to see the surface of the Moon about 2.5 minutes before reigniting the engine, to the second when Mission Control said that would happen; additionally, the crew were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon. Five seconds before reigniting the engine, Lovell saw the flashing number 99 on the display that signaled all was ready, which meant the computer was asking for the go-ahead to proceed with firing up the engine.
Lovell pressed the button, and the engine lit up, which in four minutes would slow Apollo 8 from 5100 mph to 3700 mph, which would allow the spacecraft to enter, and stay, in lunar orbit. For all three astronauts, it was the longest four minutes of their lives. Right before the computer was ready to shut down the engine, Borman manually did so. Borman continued to be amazed and impressed with the people at Mission Control that had done the calculations, which had been perfect up to this point in the mission.
All three astronauts gazed out a window, marveling at what they saw on the lunar surface. To Lovell, the Moon’s surface looked like a concrete sidewalk that had been attacked by a madman with a pickaxe.. But there was work to do, with Borman flying the spacecraft to make sure that the windows stayed in position for Lovell and Anders to do their jobs. Lovell took navigational sightings, confirmed lunar landmarks, and evaluated potential Moon landing sites. Anders was the main photographer, taking photos of the lunar surface while also keeping track of the command and service module systems. Meanwhile at Mission Control, the countdown to reacquisition was getting very close. If the engine failed to light, then Apollo 8 would be reacquired early; when Apollo 8 did not reappear at that point, waves of relief swept through Mission Control.
All three astronauts gazed out a window, marveling at what they saw on the lunar surface. To Lovell, the Moon’s surface looked like a concrete sidewalk that had been attacked by a madman with a pickaxe.. But there was work to do, with Borman flying the spacecraft to make sure that the windows stayed in position for Lovell and Anders to do their jobs. Lovell took navigational sightings, confirmed lunar landmarks, and evaluated potential Moon landing sites. Anders was the main photographer, taking photos of the lunar surface while also keeping track of the command and service module systems. Meanwhile at Mission Control, the countdown to reacquisition was getting very close. If the engine failed to light, then Apollo 8 would be reacquired early; when Apollo 8 did not reappear at that point, waves of relief swept through Mission Control.
After that point passed, if Apollo 8 reappeared in ten minutes, then the engine had worked properly. With one minute left on the countdown, CapCom (Jerry Carr) began to call Apollo 8, saying over and over, “Apollo 8, Houston, over”. One second from the predicted time, Lovell’s voice responded saying “Go ahead, Houston, Apollo 8, burn complete”, at which point Mission Control exploded in cheers and applause (as well in each of the astronaut’s homes). Lovell described what he was seeing on the lunar surface being as precise as possible. Borman was elated, but he was also all business, and before the first full orbit of the Moon, he wanted Mission Control to confirm that all was a go.
Apollo 8 kept slowly positioning itself more-and-more nose-first, and Anders kept taking photos according to NASA’s instructions. Aiming and focusing was not easy, and Anders felt it was like taking photos of the Grand Canyon through a welder’s mask. However, Anders was able to capture absolutely spectacular shots of the lunar surface. Basically, Apollo 8 would have about 30 minutes of acceptable light to take photos during the two hour lunar orbit. When Apollo 8 next came around the far side of the Moon, they would make their first television broadcast (third overall) from the Moon. It would be an early-morning telecast in the US, around 7:30 am for millions of viewers. Lovell was the Master of Ceremonies for the broadcast, asking questions of what Anders was seeing and showing viewers with his camera. Apollo 8 signed off after a twelve minute broadcast.
Apollo 8 kept slowly positioning itself more-and-more nose-first, and Anders kept taking photos according to NASA’s instructions. Aiming and focusing was not easy, and Anders felt it was like taking photos of the Grand Canyon through a welder’s mask. However, Anders was able to capture absolutely spectacular shots of the lunar surface. Basically, Apollo 8 would have about 30 minutes of acceptable light to take photos during the two hour lunar orbit. When Apollo 8 next came around the far side of the Moon, they would make their first television broadcast (third overall) from the Moon. It would be an early-morning telecast in the US, around 7:30 am for millions of viewers. Lovell was the Master of Ceremonies for the broadcast, asking questions of what Anders was seeing and showing viewers with his camera. Apollo 8 signed off after a twelve minute broadcast.
Apollo 8 had to fire their engine again for just a few seconds before their third orbit in order to circularize the orbit at 69 miles above the lunar surface. Borman controlled the spacecraft in order to allow Lovell and Anders to see the lunar surface from their windows, but to also give them different views, especially for Anders. Those photos would help NASA make topographic maps of the lunar surface to to plot paths for the future Moon landings. Anders was totally immersed in taking photos as Apollo 8 made its third orbit, with Borman giving the other two astronauts the clearest possible views yet of the Moon’s surface.
With four minutes remaining until another communications reacquisition with Mission Control, Borman put Apollo 8 into a 180 degree shift to the right as the flight plan dictated. At that point, Anders saw something new, in that Earth was starting to appear over the horizon of the Moon as Apollo 8 continued its orbit, and then Borman and Lovell saw the awesome sight as well. Anders reached for his camera to take photos and asked for a roll of color film. And then the Earth disappeared from Anders’ window, but Lovell said the Earth was rising in his window with an even better view. Anders took a photo, the first ever color photo of Earth from space, now clearly above the Moon’s horizon. Borman told Anders to take more photos, with Lovell asking Anders if he was sure he had captured Earth on film, with Anders replying yes. Then, with reacquisition with Mission Control one minute away, the Earth vanished from the window. To Borman, “Earthrise” was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, realizing that everyone and everything he loved was there, and Lovell felt much the same, while Anders felt that they had discovered the Earth.
With four minutes remaining until another communications reacquisition with Mission Control, Borman put Apollo 8 into a 180 degree shift to the right as the flight plan dictated. At that point, Anders saw something new, in that Earth was starting to appear over the horizon of the Moon as Apollo 8 continued its orbit, and then Borman and Lovell saw the awesome sight as well. Anders reached for his camera to take photos and asked for a roll of color film. And then the Earth disappeared from Anders’ window, but Lovell said the Earth was rising in his window with an even better view. Anders took a photo, the first ever color photo of Earth from space, now clearly above the Moon’s horizon. Borman told Anders to take more photos, with Lovell asking Anders if he was sure he had captured Earth on film, with Anders replying yes. Then, with reacquisition with Mission Control one minute away, the Earth vanished from the window. To Borman, “Earthrise” was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, realizing that everyone and everything he loved was there, and Lovell felt much the same, while Anders felt that they had discovered the Earth.