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.