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 service module engine had not worked properly, in that the thrust buildup had been too slow, which had never been observed in tests, and it was a big problem for Apollo 8. An explanation and a fix needed to be found soon, or orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth would almost certainly be impossible; Kraft did not want to inform the crew - yet. No one in Mission Control knew why the slow engine build-up occurred, or if there was a fix. Many controllers analyzed the 2.4 seconds of engine data in order to try and explain why there was a loss of pressure and thrust.
After almost two hours of frantic analysis, a contractor from North American Aviation, the corporation that built the spacecraft, theorized that a bubble in the fuel line had messed up things. The contractor surmised that helium must have become trapped during the launch and remained in the fuel line. The contractor continued, saying one could hear the same thing when starting a lawn mower after the engine had been inactive. But no one could know for sure, and it was up to Mission Control and Kraft to decide what to do with the helium bubble theory.
After much consultation and debate at Mission Control, it was decided to bet the rest of the flight on that theory. Then good news was discovered, in that the 2.4 second test-burn hadn’t altered Apollo 8’s trajectory to the Moon. And even better, if no changes were made to the trajectory, Apollo 8 would start to slingshot around the far side of the Moon as calculated, 80 miles above the lunar surface.
After almost two hours of frantic analysis, a contractor from North American Aviation, the corporation that built the spacecraft, theorized that a bubble in the fuel line had messed up things. The contractor surmised that helium must have become trapped during the launch and remained in the fuel line. The contractor continued, saying one could hear the same thing when starting a lawn mower after the engine had been inactive. But no one could know for sure, and it was up to Mission Control and Kraft to decide what to do with the helium bubble theory.
After much consultation and debate at Mission Control, it was decided to bet the rest of the flight on that theory. Then good news was discovered, in that the 2.4 second test-burn hadn’t altered Apollo 8’s trajectory to the Moon. And even better, if no changes were made to the trajectory, Apollo 8 would start to slingshot around the far side of the Moon as calculated, 80 miles above the lunar surface.
During all that hullabaloo in Mission Control, Borman was having difficulty sleeping when it was his turn, even after receiving permission from Houston to take a sleeping pill. Borman started to feel sick, and he’d never had a sick moment as an astronaut, or even when training in the “Vomit Comet”. Borman did his best to keep the nausea at bay, but it was a lost cause, and before he vomited, he said “I’m sorry, guys”. As Borman retched, he tried to capture the floating vomit globs, but there were too many of them going in all directions - and very soon the odor of the vomit reached Lovell and Anders. Overwhelmed, Anders reached for his gas mask over Lovell’s objection, and then he went to help Borman.
One golf ball size glob approached Anders, and he was transfixed watching it, and about 18 inches away from him, the glob split apart, with one of the pieces heading towards Lovell, who was also hypnotized by the sight. The troubles for Lovell and Anders were only starting, since also floating to them were spinning blobs of feces, since Borman also had diarrhea. Lovell and Anders grabbed as many moist towelettes as they could, trying to net the floating feces like butterflies. After restoring enough order to the cabin, Lovell and Anders realized that Borman was very sick. Anders wanted to inform Mission Control right away, but Borman said “Absolutely not”.
One golf ball size glob approached Anders, and he was transfixed watching it, and about 18 inches away from him, the glob split apart, with one of the pieces heading towards Lovell, who was also hypnotized by the sight. The troubles for Lovell and Anders were only starting, since also floating to them were spinning blobs of feces, since Borman also had diarrhea. Lovell and Anders grabbed as many moist towelettes as they could, trying to net the floating feces like butterflies. After restoring enough order to the cabin, Lovell and Anders realized that Borman was very sick. Anders wanted to inform Mission Control right away, but Borman said “Absolutely not”.
Lovell and Anders understood that Borman didn’t want Mission Control and the public to know that he’d become sick in space. In addition, Borman didn’t trust NASA’s doctors, especially NASA’s medical director,
Charles Berry, whose judgment he had long questioned. Worse yet, Berry had a habit of inserting himself into NASA’s business whenever and wherever he could do so. Borman believed that if any NASA doctor was given the chance to the the “hero”, an astronaut was in trouble, and he didn’t want his condition to cause the mission to be aborted. Lovell wholeheartedly agreed with Borman, remembering how he had been erroneously rejected by a panel of NASA doctors when he applied as an astronaut for Project Mercury. Lovell was prepared, with Anders, to help see the mission through short-handed, if necessary, but Anders wasn’t so sure. However, Borman had issued an order as commander, and both he and Lovell were military men; but Anders knew the flight was at risk nonetheless.
A full day into the flight, Apollo 8 crossed the half-way point to the Moon, but due to Apollo 8’s decreasing speed, the Moon was still 45 hours away. Borman started to look better, and he told his crewmates that he thought the sleeping pills had made him sick. Anders was skeptical, however, since diarrhea had been involved. Anders tried to think of a way to get Mission Control alerted and involved, since there might be an easy antidote.
Charles Berry, whose judgment he had long questioned. Worse yet, Berry had a habit of inserting himself into NASA’s business whenever and wherever he could do so. Borman believed that if any NASA doctor was given the chance to the the “hero”, an astronaut was in trouble, and he didn’t want his condition to cause the mission to be aborted. Lovell wholeheartedly agreed with Borman, remembering how he had been erroneously rejected by a panel of NASA doctors when he applied as an astronaut for Project Mercury. Lovell was prepared, with Anders, to help see the mission through short-handed, if necessary, but Anders wasn’t so sure. However, Borman had issued an order as commander, and both he and Lovell were military men; but Anders knew the flight was at risk nonetheless.
A full day into the flight, Apollo 8 crossed the half-way point to the Moon, but due to Apollo 8’s decreasing speed, the Moon was still 45 hours away. Borman started to look better, and he told his crewmates that he thought the sleeping pills had made him sick. Anders was skeptical, however, since diarrhea had been involved. Anders tried to think of a way to get Mission Control alerted and involved, since there might be an easy antidote.
Anders suggested another idea: Borman could make a tape recording that described his illness. Recordings were sent to Mission Control by an auxiliary channel, where only a select handful at Mission Control would hear the recording. Also, there would be a time delay involved since the recordings were often not listened to right away after being received. Borman reluctantly agreed, since it was as private a communication to Mission Control as possible, and he hoped that the NASA doctors wouldn’t insert themselves. Anders activated the recorder, making sure that it was not directly downlinked to Mission Control as a normal channel of communication.
The delay turned out to be two hours instead of the few minutes that the three astronauts expected. Finally, CapCom (Collins) told Apollo 8 that Mission Control had received the recording, and would advise shortly. At Mission Control, when the controller heard the audio recording, he privately alerted the powers-that-be, including Kraft, and of course Dr. Berry became involved. Kraft was not pleased that Borman hadn’t directly informed Mission Control, but he understood the astronaut’s lack of trust with NASA doctors. Kraft set aside his frustration with Borman and focused on solving the problem. Dr. Berry thought Borman had the
Hong Kong Flu, which was ailing so many Americans during the last several weeks. Berry also mentioned that it might be an unknown reaction to an astronaut being in space. The discussion at Mission Control centered on whether to abort the mission or to continue, and Apollo 8 was told of the decision about an hour after the recording was heard, which to the crew was three hours after downlinking Borman’s recording.
The delay turned out to be two hours instead of the few minutes that the three astronauts expected. Finally, CapCom (Collins) told Apollo 8 that Mission Control had received the recording, and would advise shortly. At Mission Control, when the controller heard the audio recording, he privately alerted the powers-that-be, including Kraft, and of course Dr. Berry became involved. Kraft was not pleased that Borman hadn’t directly informed Mission Control, but he understood the astronaut’s lack of trust with NASA doctors. Kraft set aside his frustration with Borman and focused on solving the problem. Dr. Berry thought Borman had the
Hong Kong Flu, which was ailing so many Americans during the last several weeks. Berry also mentioned that it might be an unknown reaction to an astronaut being in space. The discussion at Mission Control centered on whether to abort the mission or to continue, and Apollo 8 was told of the decision about an hour after the recording was heard, which to the crew was three hours after downlinking Borman’s recording.
Mission Control used a private secure loop to communicate their decision to Apollo 8, first asking for more details about Boman’s illness. Borman said that he felt better, thinking that he had the proverbial 24 hour flu, but given that the flu is contagious, maybe not the best news. As Borman provided details, Dr. Berry jumped in, the last person that he wanted involved. Dr. Berry pressed for more details, such as did Borman have a sore throat, and how were his crewmates feeling. Berry told Borman to take a Lomotil tablet (an antidiarrhetic) and another medication for feeling nauseous. However, the crew was most interested in what Dr. Berry had not told them to do: come home. CapCom (Collins) resumed with normal mission instructions, which meant the mission was still a go. It was assumed in Houston that Borman’s illness had passed, and if it returned, it could be treated.
About 100,000 miles from the Moon, Apollo 8 would make its first live television broadcast, and it had been about twelve hours since Borman went through the worst of what ailed him. No one knew if the broadcast signal would work, given the distance from Earth. The rotisserie mode of the spacecraft was stopped for the broadcast, so the antennae would be in as fixed a position as possible. The signal worked fine, but Anders and Borman had trouble with the video camera’s lenses and settings. When they thought the Earth was properly framed and showing, the telephoto lens wasn’t working right. Lovell and Anders did zero gravity stunts while Borman stewed over being unable to show the Earth in the television broadcast, repeatedly apologizing on the air. Borman then told the television audience that he had to end the broadcast so the command/service modules wouldn’t become overheated (he needed to return to rotisserie mode), and the broadcast ended.
About 100,000 miles from the Moon, Apollo 8 would make its first live television broadcast, and it had been about twelve hours since Borman went through the worst of what ailed him. No one knew if the broadcast signal would work, given the distance from Earth. The rotisserie mode of the spacecraft was stopped for the broadcast, so the antennae would be in as fixed a position as possible. The signal worked fine, but Anders and Borman had trouble with the video camera’s lenses and settings. When they thought the Earth was properly framed and showing, the telephoto lens wasn’t working right. Lovell and Anders did zero gravity stunts while Borman stewed over being unable to show the Earth in the television broadcast, repeatedly apologizing on the air. Borman then told the television audience that he had to end the broadcast so the command/service modules wouldn’t become overheated (he needed to return to rotisserie mode), and the broadcast ended.
Two days into the flight, Apollo 8 was two-thirds of the way to the Moon, and had slowed to 2400 mph, about 10% of the 24k mph maximum speed that was achieved leaving Earth’s orbit. As Apollo 8 neared the Moon, Mission Control wanted to make a tiny adjustment to the trajectory, using the small control thrusters.
The second television broadcast was coming up quickly, and despite getting advice on how to properly work the camera, Borman remained skeptical. However, the telephoto lens must have been figured out since the first thing viewers saw on their televisions was the Earth, with Lovell’s narration pointing out what could be seen in the Western Hemisphere. Since the broadcast was in black-and-white, Lovell described the colors he saw, with he and Anders going back-and-forth, joking around with appropriate humor. Towards the end of the broadcast, CapCom (Collins) asked if the Moon was visible in a window. Borman replied that it wasn’t, that those images would have to wait for another broadcast.
Shortly after the broadcast, Mission Control focused on Apollo 8 crossing what was called the equi-gravisphere, the point at which the Earth and the Moon exert an equal pull of gravity, which was five-sixths of the way to the Moon. It was a momentous moment, at least in Mission Control, in that it was the first time any humans had traveled so far to be influenced by lunar gravity, or the gravitational pull of any other celestial body. Bets had been taken in Mission Control as to what time that moment would occur: it could be determined simply by measuring Apollo 8’s speed, since the spacecraft would start to speed up once grabbed by the Moon’s gravity. The equi-gravisphere occurred 202,700 miles from Earth when Apollo 8’s speed started to increase from 2200 mph . . . Apollo 8 was no longer part of the Earth.
The second television broadcast was coming up quickly, and despite getting advice on how to properly work the camera, Borman remained skeptical. However, the telephoto lens must have been figured out since the first thing viewers saw on their televisions was the Earth, with Lovell’s narration pointing out what could be seen in the Western Hemisphere. Since the broadcast was in black-and-white, Lovell described the colors he saw, with he and Anders going back-and-forth, joking around with appropriate humor. Towards the end of the broadcast, CapCom (Collins) asked if the Moon was visible in a window. Borman replied that it wasn’t, that those images would have to wait for another broadcast.
Shortly after the broadcast, Mission Control focused on Apollo 8 crossing what was called the equi-gravisphere, the point at which the Earth and the Moon exert an equal pull of gravity, which was five-sixths of the way to the Moon. It was a momentous moment, at least in Mission Control, in that it was the first time any humans had traveled so far to be influenced by lunar gravity, or the gravitational pull of any other celestial body. Bets had been taken in Mission Control as to what time that moment would occur: it could be determined simply by measuring Apollo 8’s speed, since the spacecraft would start to speed up once grabbed by the Moon’s gravity. The equi-gravisphere occurred 202,700 miles from Earth when Apollo 8’s speed started to increase from 2200 mph . . . Apollo 8 was no longer part of the Earth.