Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 10

SPLASHDOWN!

I couldn't find a video of the Apollo 8 splashdown, so here's one they did later - Apollo 15;



So the mission went almost perfectly. A good thing too.
In November 1970, it must have preyed on Jim Lovell's mind that had the Service Module exploded on Apollo 8, as it did on his later flight Apollo 13, there would have been no hope of recovering control and returning to Earth. Apollo 13 only made it back because they had the Lunar Module still attached and were able to use it's engine to power back to Earth before the crew all died of exposure or more likely, asphyxiation.

In the case of Apollo 8 though, once the mission had slowed from the free return trajectory to orbit the Moon, there was only one way back; firing the Service Module engine successfully.
The mission was a bold and courageous undertaking. There was no back up plan, no hope of rescue and no experience to draw upon. The Apollo 8 mission emboldened NASA and made the Moon landing in 1969 a possibility - it converted hope into experience.

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 9

Apollo 8 is now about half way between the Moon and the Earth, coasting back towards a splashdown rendezvous in the Pacific Ocean on the afternoon of the 27th December.

To illustrate the difference in the size and capability of a launcher and spacecraft system needed to support a lunar mission as opposed to Earth orbital trips, here's a scale comparison of the first three U.S. launch systems. Mercury, a single man system was the first, followed by the two man Gemini and lastly the three man Apollo.

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 8

Having orbited the Moon for a day, all the crew needed to do now was to come home to Earth. This required a long burn of the single SPS engine to increase their speed to escape the Moon's gravity and head off in the right direction for Earth. Here's some extracts from the verbatim flight logs:

Public Affairs Officer - "This is Apollo Control Houston at 89 hours, 19 minutes into the flight. We are now less than 30 seconds to the scheduled time of ignition for the maneuver to start Apollo 8 on its course back to Earth. In the last 15 seconds, prior to ignition, the crew will be burning their Service Propulsion System - rather their Reaction Control System engines to settle propellants. And here in Mission Control Center, we have just counted down to the burn. We should have ignition at this time. That will be a 3-minute and 18-second burn nominally. It will increase the spacecraft velocity by about 3,522 feet per second or some 2,395 miles per hour. Following the maneuver, The spacecraft should have a velocity of about 8,800 feet per second - some 6,000 miles per hour. And here in Mission Control, it is relatively quiet, as it has been since we lost communications with the spacecraft as they went over the Moon's horizon. At this point, flight controllers here in Mission Control, as with the rest of the world, now they are waiting."

089:20:16 Anders (onboard): Burned for 1 minute.

089:20:18 Borman (onboard): Okay.

Public Affairs Officer - "Coming up in just a few seconds now, we should have shutdown of the Service Propulsion System engine on the spacecraft that should have occurred at 89 hours - or rather will be occurring at 89 hours, 22 minutes, 34 seconds. Actually, we are just a little less than a minute from that event. And the clock here in Mission Control Center that is counting down to the time when we will reacquire the spacecraft shows that we have 6 minutes, 30 seconds until reacquisition. At this point, the SPS engine should be shut down and we will now be waiting for the spacecraft to come over the lunar horizon and give us a report on their status We now show 5 minutes, 45 seconds until reacquisition."

089:23:02 Borman (onboard): 1, OFF.

089:23:03 Anders (onboard): Got it.

089:23:04 Borman (onboard): 2, OFF.

089:23:05 Anders (onboard): Got it.

089:23:06 Borman (onboard): 3, OFF.

089:23:07 Anders (onboard): Got it.

089:23:08 Borman (onboard): 4, OFF.

089:23:09 Borman (onboard): Got it.

089:23:10 Borman (onboard): Okay -

089:23:11 Anders (onboard): TVC SERVO POWER, 1 and 2. OFF.

089:23:13 Borman (onboard): OFF.

089:23:14 Anders (onboard): FLIGHT Recorders OFF; MAIN BUS ties, going OFF; A is OFF - -

089:23:20 Lovell (onboard): There we go.

089:23:22 Anders (onboard): - - B is OFF.

089:23:23 Anders (onboard): Proceed.

089:23:24 Borman (onboard): Wait a minute. Did you get all this, Jim?

089:23:26 Lovell (onboard): Yes.

089:23:28 Anders (onboard): You ready to proceed?

089:23:29 Lovell (onboard): Proceed. I'll get these.

089:23:31 Anders (onboard): Okay, null residuals. Record DELTA-V.

089:23:33 Lovell (onboard): Minus 54 - -

089:23:34 Borman (onboard): That 0.5?

089:23:36 Lovell (onboard): Yes, 0.5.

089:23:37 Anders (onboard): You don't have to do a thing to that.

089:23:39 Borman (onboard): Just record it.

089:23:41 Anders (onboard): Record DELTA-Vc.

089:23:43 Borman (onboard): Minus - that's up here - minus26.4.

089:23:49 Lovell (onboard): I got 26.4, and the burn time was- -

089:23:52 Borman (onboard): Minus 26.4.

089:23:53 Lovell (onboard): - - have it, burn time was 2minutes (cough) and 23 seconds.

089:23:58 Borman (onboard): Okay, can we proceed out of here, then? You got all this?

089:24:01 Lovell (onboard): I have all that.

089:24:02 Borman (onboard): Proceed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Public Affairs Officer - "This is Apollo Control Houston at 89 hours, 26 minutes. Flight Director Milton Windler has just advised his flight control team here in Mission Control Center that we have less than 3 minutes now until reacquisition of the spacecraft and he requested that they monitor their console, get prepared to reacquire and to get a status from the crew. (Pause.)"

Public Affairs Officer - "This is Apollo Control Houston. We now show less than 30 seconds until reacquisition. We will stand by for the first words from the Apollo 8 crew as they come over the lunar horizon, and into acquisition."

Public Affairs Officer - "We have AOS signal. There is a little bit of a cheer going up among the flight controllers here. We should be hearing from the crew shortly."

Public Affairs Officer - "Our station at Honeysuckle reports that we do have a radio signal from the spacecraft. Having a bit of trouble locking up at this point, to the point where we can get voice communications from the crew."

089:31:12 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]

089:31:30 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]

089:31:58 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]

089:32:50 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]

089:33:38 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston.

089:34:16 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8, over.

089:34:19 Mattingly: Hello, Apollo 8. Loud and clear.

089:34:25 Lovell: Roger. Please be informed there is a Santa Claus.
089:34:31 Mattingly: That's affirmative. You're the best ones to know.

089:34:37 Lovell: And burn status report: it burned on time; Burn time, 2 minutes, 23 seconds; seven-tenths plus VGX. Attitude nominal, residuals; minus five-tenths VGX, plus four-tenths VGY, minus 0 VGZ; Delta-VC, minus 26.4.

089:35:14 Mattingly: Roger.

089:35:19 Mattingly: Apollo FLIGHT has...

089:35:23 Mattingly: Apollo 8, reconfirm your burn time, please.

089:35:30 Lovell: Roger. We had 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Our - wait one. Stand corrected to that; 3 minutes, 23 seconds.

089:35:43 Mattingly: Thank you. [Long pause.]

Public Affairs Officer - "This is Mission Control, Houston. Flight Dynamics Officer says that burn is good."

089:36:33 Borman: You get the sensation that you're climbing, Ken.

089:36:35 Mattingly: Say again, Apollo 8.

089:36:41 Borman: I say, this gives you the sensation that you're climbing.

089:36:47 Mattingly: Rog. [Pause.]

089:36:53 Borman:. What's next on the docket?

089:36:56 Mattingly: High Gain Antenna. [Long pause.]

089:37:10 Mattingly: Apollo 8, at the first convenient moment, we'd like to have the High Gain Antenna.

089:37:19 Borman: You've got it; you're on the High Gain.

089:37:25 Mattingly: Rog.


.....and that was that, they were on their way home. No drama, no excitement, just on to the next thing on the checklist. These guys really were ice-cool.

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 7

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7797439.stm


Have a Happy - Space Age - Christmas!

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 6

Time to get busy. Slowing from 15,000 miles per hour and positioning Apollo 8 into a stable orbit around the Moon was a precise and risky procedure. It involved turning the spacecraft around and firing its powerful Service Module engine for precisely four and a half minutes — an eternity of time when even a couple of seconds is enough to send a spacecraft spinning irretrievably off course. The engine burn was designed to slow the spacecraft down enough to insert it into a lunar orbit without losing so much altitude that it crashed into the Moon instead.
Orbital mechanics also demanded that the manoeuvre should take place on the dark side of the moon, entirely out of radio contact with Earth. At 68 hours and 58 minutes into their journey, the crew strapped in and vanished around the Moon's far side, out of sight, out of contact with everything they had ever known.

Ten minutes later, Jim Lovell typed the instructions for the engine burn into the on-board computer, and the computer flashed back "99:40," which was it's code for "Are You Sure?". Lovell was. He pressed the 'Proceed' button. The engine ignited, performed flawlessly and the burn worked exactly as scripted. That and subsequent burns inserted Apollo 8 into an lunar orbit 68 miles high at its 'peak' and at it's lowest point just 60 miles above the tops of the lunar mountains.
And even before Apollo 8 came around the other side of the Moon and back into radio contact with Mission Control, Houston, Bill Anders had spotted and photographed what no human being had ever witnessed before. It is surely the most iconic photo of the space age and one of the most iconic of any age - Earthrise over the Moon.


This photograph became important and iconic after the astronauts had returned to Earth. At the time it's existence was unknown to those watching and listening to the live coverage from NASA.
But what was to follow later, on Christmas Eve in the U.S., early on Christmas Day in the U.K., no-one had predicted or prepared for. It was historic - the largest worldwide television audience ever at that time tuned in to see the Astronauts broadcasting a 'normal' PR slot from their Apollo spacecraft.
They got that.
But what they also witnessed was the ultimate Christmas Special, transmitted live to planet Earth from a quarter of a million miles away, 60 miles above the surface of the Moon....

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 5

As Apollo 8 speeds towards its rendezvous with the Moon, let's jump forward in time 40 years to see what the astronauts have to say now about their pioneering journey way back in 1968.

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 4

A flawless launch - Apollo 8 is on it's way to the Moon. If all goes well, it will take three days to travel approximately 240,000 miles, and arrive in the vicinity of the Moon on Christmas Eve.

Here's another view of that launch, this time taken by remote camera at the top of the service tower, about level with the Apollo capsule containing the crew, approximately 365 feet above the ground.



Since the launch to Earth orbit, jettisoning the first (S-1C) and second (SII) stages along the way, Apollo 8 has been checking out all systems in preparation for a TLI (Trans Lunar Injection) burn of the third stage (S-IVB). The trusty third stage has already powered the Apollo 8 spacecraft on the final leg to Earth orbit before being shut down. Now travelling at around 17,000 miles per hour, it will be restarted to accelerate the Apollo 8 spacecraft to 27,000 miles per hour, enough speed to escape Earth's gravity and reach the Moon on Christmas Eve.

Join us soon for another.....

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 3

Nearly time for lift-off. The countdown has been proceeding well since December 16th with no major problems along the way. Quite important for a new rocket, the Saturn V, which so far has had two okay-ish test flights. Today will be the first manned flight and it is hoped that modifications to the booster stages will work as planned.
Travelling to the Moon raises the stakes considerably in the event of a problem. In Earth orbit, assuming that there has not been a complete disaster, the astronauts can separate their capsule from the rocket stages and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Gravity is an ally. A Moon mission however presents a quite different situation. Once out of the Earth's gravitational field and captured by the Moon's, it is only possible to return to Earth by either swinging around the Moon and coming straight back to Earth in a 'sling-shot' trajectory, or, if already in orbit around the Moon by accelerating away from the Moon using rocket power. Either way, the Astronauts will be several days away from Earth for much of their journey. Apart from radio and telemetry links with Mission Control in Houston, Texas, they are effectively on their own.
Of course, the crew, Borman, Lovell and Anders are all experienced in handling potentially risky situations, and they are well trained. As the countdown runs down through the Terminal Phase, let's meet them.



L-R - James (Jim) Lovell [Command Module Pilot], William (Bill) Anders [Lunar Module Pilot], Frank Borman [Mission Commander].



The Apollo 8 crew 'left the building' earlier this morning and are now waiting atop their Saturn V for a lift-off scheduled at around 12.50 GMT (7.50 EST).

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 2

Some broadcasts will be in black and white, but, as far as we can, we'll be following the mission using BBC2's new colour service...

Let's Go to the Moon this Christmas - 1

Forty years ago, three men set off to travel around the Moon for Christmas. It's almost unbelievable now to think that in 1968 such a thing would be possible. It would be impossible now.
Yet 40 years ago, as a small boy of 5 years old, not only did I take this amazing feat for granted, it seemed that almost everybody did - it was going to be the 'first step'. Now of course we know that it was almost the last. At the time though it was the most exciting thing in my young life and sparked my longest lasting interest - space travel, and all it's works.

So join me, and let's travel back to 1968 and remember - or imagine - what it was like.

The date is December 5th 1968 and the Saturn 5 is on the pad, being prepared for launch later this month. The crew, Frank Borman, Bill Anders and Jim Lovell are training for their flight. They will become the first people to travel out of the Earth's gravitational field and be captured in orbit by another celestial body, the Moon, 240,000 miles away.

They will do this with no rehearsal, no back up plan, no hope of rescue. Forty years later, they are all still alive. The Apollo 8 crew is pictured below at the rollout of the Saturn V at the Cape.



Let's close by taking a look at their Moonrocket, now standing quietly, being prepared, on Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coast in Florida.