Like Apollo 7 before it, Apollo 8 was meant to stay close to home, testing crucial equipment
in Earth's orbit, helping to ensure everything would be ready when the time came
to put a man on the moon.
But that's not what happened.
Just four months before launch, Apollo's mission was drastically changed and a crew
already in training was given a new assignment.
They were now tasked with going farther than anyone in history, on a journey that could,
with one wrong calculation, leave them stranded in the vastness of space.
The last minute change was due to this, the Lunar Module, the craft that would eventually
land the crew of Apollo 11 on the moon.
Apollo 8's original mission was to test the Lunar Module for the first time in Earth orbit.
But because it was teeming with problems and wouldn't be ready by launch, it would be
pointless to continue Apollo 8's original mission.
At this point NASA had few options.
Postponing Apollo 8 would mean pushing back all other missions, potentially causing the
U.S. to miss Kennedy's deadline to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's.
JFK [We choose to go to the Moon.]
To make matters worse, the CIA had intelligence that the Soviet Union was planning a lunar
flyby of its own.
So NASA came up with a bold solution; to abandon its original plan, leave the lunar module
grounded and instead, go straight to the moon.
With a new mission came a new crew.
Astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell, two Gemini veterans and William Anders, who
had never been to space before, were reassigned to Apollo 8 in August of 1968.
They were given their new objectives, to test the crew, command module and equipment between
Earth and lunar orbit, as well as lunar orbit itself.
They would also test communication at such long distances and take pictures to help scout
a possible landing site.
Apollo 8, like many that came before it and many that would come after, was a mission
of firsts, with each leg of the journey aiming to do something that had never been done before.
This made it exciting and inspiring, but also came with enormous risks and impending unknowns,
starting with the rocket that would launch them into space.
On the morning of December 21st the three man crew squeezed into the command module
on top of the Saturn V rocket.
This was only the third time a Saturn V had been launched and the first with a manned crew.
During its last flight on Apollo 6, the Saturn V was plagued with violent shaking and engine failure.
NASA engineers had developed a solution by rerouting excess helium to dampen the vibrations.
But there had only been time for ground tests before the real launch of Apollo 8.
Thankfully, the Saturn V proved it could withstand the elements.
Three hours after launch, a fuel boost would increase the spacecraft's velocity by over
35,000 feet per second, taking astronauts outside of Earth's orbit for the first time.
This was a major victory, but one of the biggest challenges was still to come.
After Apollo 8 made the journey from the Earth to the Moon, it needed to enter lunar orbit,
a task that had to be done on the far side of the Moon--out of communication
with the NASA team back on Earth.
In order to slow down enough to be captured by the Moon's gravity, Apollo 8's propulsion
system would be fired in reverse for a precise amount of time.
If it burned too long, the craft would slow down too much and crash.
Too little and it would be traveling too fast, missing the Moon altogether, drifting into
space without hope of ever returning to Earth.
On December 24th, Apollo 8 disappeared behind the Moon and a nervous Mission Control waited
for a sign that the maneuver was successful.
Astronauts [We are now approaching lunar sunrise.]
Astronauts [The crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.]
Astronauts [In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth.]
The module would orbit the moon 10 times before entering the next dangerous phase of the mission.
In order to exit the moon's orbit, they once again had to rely on their propulsion system.
If it failed at this point, the crew would be stranded in the Moon's orbit and most
likely would suffocate and perish by New Year's Eve.
Not only was the propulsion system successful, the crew returned to Earth and splashed down
less than three miles from their rescue ship.
Apollo 8 was a triumph of preparation and execution.
It gave us our first view of home from another world.
It proved that we could go to the Moon and back.
And many credit it as the mission that changed how society viewed space travel.
Apollo 8 sparked interest, imagination, and confidence.
Astronauts [And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with goodnight, goodluck, a Merry Christmas]
Astronauts [and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.]
NASA was fast approaching a Moon landing, but there was still a great deal that needed
to be tested, including the grounded lunar module.
Soon new crews would be sent into space to deal with challenges of their own, including
space sickness, record breaking speeds and navigating the most famous walk in history.
If you want to learn more about the missions that shaped space exploration,
check out this Apollo playlist here.
And make sure to subscribe to Seeker for all things science.
Thanks for watching!
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