We kicked off our series of Apollo articles with a general introduction to the Apollo moon missions and a look at the Apollo spacecraft. Before we get to the moon landings, we’re going to take a look at the earlier crewed missions that made the landings possible. In this article, we’re reflecting on Apollo 7 and Apollo 8, the first crewed Apollo missions to make it into space.
Apollo 7
The first planned crewed mission of the Apollo programme, Apollo 1, never flew. It was intended to launch in February 1967, but the crew – Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee – were killed in a fire during a launch rehearsal. In response to this tragedy, NASA delayed the programme in order to ensure that the spacecraft was made safe.
Apollo 7, the programme’s first successful crewed launch, eventually took off on 11 October 1968. On board were commander Wally Schirra, lunar module pilot Walt Cunningham and command module pilot Donn Eisele. Although there was no lunar module aboard Apollo 7 or Apollo 8, a member of the crew would still be assigned the role of ‘lunar module pilot’.
Apollo 7’s purpose was to test the crewed Apollo spacecraft and simulate manoeuvres in low Earth orbit, so it didn’t travel to the moon. Whereas the later moon-bound missions were launched by a Saturn V rocket, Apollo 7, which didn’t have as far to travel, was launched by the less powerful Saturn IB.
The mission went well, but the crew didn’t have a great time. All three of the astronauts developed a cold shortly into the flight. As NASA writes, having a cold can be particularly unpleasant when you’re in orbit:
A cold is uncomfortable enough on the ground, but in weightlessness it presents a different problem. Mucus accumulates, fills the nasal passages and does not drain from the head. The only relief is to blow hard, which is painful to the ear drums. The crew had no choice but to endure their symptoms with the help of aspirin and decongestants.
The astronauts landed safely after eleven days in space, and NASA used what they’d learnt from the mission to refine the Apollo spacecraft for future launches. Schirra and Eisele, meanwhile, after their unpleasant experience with illness in space, went on to advertise decongestants on television.
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the first spacecraft to reach and orbit the moon, although it didn’t land. Its crew, the first people ever to travel to the moon, consisted of commander Frank Borman, lunar module pilot Bill Anders and command module pilot Jim Lovell. Lovell actually flew on two different Apollo missions, so we’ll talk more about him when we get to Apollo 13.
The moon rotates slowly as it orbits the Earth, keeping the same side facing the Earth at all times. This is why the pattern on the moon’s surface always looks the same from Earth. Because of this, Borman, Lovell and Anders were also the first people to see the far side of the moon.
As with Apollo 7, there were some struggles with illness aboard Apollo 8. Borman suffered from what’s now known as space sickness: nausea and disorientation caused by the change of gravity in orbit.
Apollo 8 launched on 21 December 1968 and landed on 27 December, meaning that Borman, Lovell and Anders spent Christmas in space. From lunar orbit, they sent a message to Earth: a short reading from the Bible, a ‘Merry Christmas’, and good wishes for everyone on the planet. Using satellite communications, the message was broadcast on television and radio around the world.
On Christmas Day, the astronauts enjoyed a full Christmas meal in the command module, although they opted not to drink the brandy shots on offer in case anything went wrong.
During the mission, Anders took the famous photograph ‘Earthrise’, showing a half-Earth rising above the lunar surface. It was the first time people had seen the Earth from another celestial body.
In our next Apollo article, we’ll talk about Apollo 9 and 10, which marked the first time the Apollo lunar module was flown in space. Later, during Apollo 11, this lunar module would take humans down to the surface of the moon.
Images: NASA
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