The Remarkable Journey of Apollo 8

by Bill Miley

The Apollo program was in trouble. After the unqualified success of the Mercury and Gemini programs the Apollo program to land a man on the moon was off to a difficult and tragic start. 

Apollo 1 fire

The Gemini program had ended in November 1966 with Gemini 12, flown by Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin.  Gemini had met all of its objectives and done so without loss of life in space. The first Apollo earth orbit test flight was scheduled for February 1967. But on January 28, 1967 while running through a dress rehearsal on the launch pad there had been a fire. The three astronauts, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in the Apollo space craft on the pad—not even in space.

It was a devastating setback and a wakeup call to NASA that revealed critical defects in the spacecraft and deficiencies in the program. NASA was cutting corners to meet the timetable of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade that President Kennedy had set.

Meanwhile US spacecraft were grounded and the end of the decade deadline was rapidly approaching.

Frank Borman had been assigned to investigate the accident and to recommend design and procedural changes. Borman had flown in space on Gemini 7 with Jim Lovell, one of the most grueling of the Gemini series—fourteen days in orbit in a spacecraft the size of a small car.  He was assigned to command a future test of the Command/ Service module (CSM) and Lunar Module (LM) system using a Saturn V in earth orbit. His crew would be Mike Collins as Command module pilot and Bill Anders Lunar module pilot--an all Air Force crew. 

Over the next several months the Apollo 1 accident was deconstructed, and one by one all of the design flaws were uncovered. Each one was addressed and the spacecraft redesigned and rebuilt. After the accident investigation, Borman began spending his time at the North American plant at Downey, California supervising the assembly of the Command module he would be flying and training on it. 

Saturn V problems

Meanwhile testing of Werner Von Braun’s Saturn V rocket, the largest most powerful ever built and vital for reaching the moon, would reveal some problems of its own. The first flight of the Saturn V rocket was in November 1967. It was ultimately designated Apollo 4 and carried an unmanned Apollo space craft. As well as a first test of the Saturn V, it also tested the Apollo command module in space and its reentry system.

The flight was a success and even the normally straight laced Von Braun became emotional at launch and exclaimed, "go, baby, go!"

However, the next flight of the Saturn V, in April 1968, was not nearly as smooth. The first stage exhibited severe combustion instability and "pogo". It was so severe that it caused structural damage to the adapter that attaches the CSM to the third stage and would have injured the astronauts, had there been any. The second stage also had problems and two of the five engines shut down early. The third stage carrying a CSM and a simulated LM barely limped into orbit. Finally the third stage failed to restart, as it would have to do to go to the moon. Flight Director Chris Kraft dubbed the flight a disaster. One step forward and two back it seemed. But even so, NASA was able to gather valuable data.

Von Braun and his Huntsville engineering team immediately began to work to fix the problems. The combustion instability problems were caused by the rapidly emptying fuel tanks. The problem was solved by filling the voids with pressurized helium—a form of gas pulse dampeners acting as shock absorbers. The premature engine shutdowns were caused by fuel lines that had broken and the problem was made worse by control wiring that had been crossed, problems that were relatively easily corrected.  The Saturn V design itself was sound.

Redesign of the Apollo spacecraft, designated Block II, was proceeding and it looked like things were back on track.

1968

While NASA was involved in fixing the problems of Apollo, 1968 was shaping up to be a brutal year, otherwise. Ten hours after the “disastrous” Apollo 6 flight ended Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. 

At the end of January more than 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong came across the demilitarized zone and struck multiple targets in the south. The Tet offensive, as it came to be known, changed the Viet Nam war for the worse and ultimately led to President Johnson choosing not to run for reelection.

In June Senator Robert Kennedy, candidate for president was assassinated after winning the California primary. 

By mid 1968 it was becoming clear through intelligence sources that the Soviets planned to make a manned circumlunar flight before the end of 1968. Grumman’s lunar lander, the Lunar Module wasn’t going to be ready in time for a planned earth orbit test of all components of an Apollo mission—Saturn V launch vehicle, CSM and the LM. 

The Moon Decision

Legend has it that George Low, Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, conceived of the idea of sending Apollo 8 to the moon. Low had been appointed Apollo chief in the shake-up of NASA managers in the wake of the Apollo 1 fire.

In August 1968 after returning from vacation, he thought, without a Lunar Module, the flight would simply be a repeat of the Apollo 7 flight, scheduled for October. Why not change Apollo 8’s mission to go to the moon instead? He had to have agreement of the key NASA leaders, like Bob Gilruth, Deke Slayton and Kris Kraft, once he had it; they had to have Von Braun’s support that the Saturn V would be ready. Von Braun assured them that the rocket would be ready to safely carry astronauts to the moon and would not require another earth orbit test. 

He said, “Once you decide to man it, it doesn’t matter how far you go.”

By this time, Mike Collins had to go on medical leave due to surgery for a bone spur in his neck. He was replaced with Jim Lovell, Frank Borman's crew mate from Gemini 7. Lovell had more time in space than any other astronaut or cosmonaut and Frank liked flying with Jim. Collins would ultimately fly with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11. 

Once Borman and his crew were informed of their mission change, everything was in place. A lot of hurdles would have to be met, but the absolute final condition for making the trip to the moon, was a near perfect—if not flawless performance of Apollo 7.

NASA would have just sixteen weeks to prepare the software, train the crew and have the Saturn V ready for flight. To say that it was an aggressive plan and filled with risk was an understatement. But the rewards of getting the program back on schedule with a substantive accomplishment was worth the risk. With many friends now flying combat in Viet Nam, Borman looked at the trip to the moon as a Cold War encounter--a chance to win a confrontation with the Soviets.

The launch would be scheduled for December 21, which meant they would arrive in lunar orbit on December 24, Christmas Eve.

Wally Schirra’s 11 day Apollo 7 flight with Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele did all that was expected of it even though the three astronauts had head colds and were argumentative with Mission Control during the entire mission.

But now that the Block II Apollo Space craft was proven, the way was clear for Apollo 8. Meanwhile even though the Apollo 8 Saturn V had been shipped to Cape Kennedy, the Huntsville Quality and Reliability team continued to run engine tests on proxy hardware right on through the fall and to within a few days of the launch just to ensure that every contingency had been covered.

December 21 launch

Final preparations continued through the fall and into December, with the training of the flight crew and ground controllers. Just a few days before launch, Borman, Lovell and Anders were visited by Charles Lindbergh, who had taken a keen interest in the flight. 

Apollo 8 was the first manned flight of the Saturn V and no one knew what to expect. At ignition the noise and vibration was almost overwhelming. Bill Anders was the rookie astronaut, but all three of them were new to the Saturn V. As the rocket rose the first stage engines were gimbaling to keep the huge rocket flying straight to clear the tower. With the center of gravity so far below, the Apollo capsule at the top was tossed back and forth. Bill Anders said he felt like a bug on an automobile antenna. 

"Go for TLI"

After Apollo 8 reached orbit and the Saturn V S-IVB third stage shutdown, the crew went through a comprehensive check of the systems in the command and service module before committing to go to the Moon. When the space craft was determined to be fit the decision was made to proceed.

It was Capcom, Michael Collins, who told Frank Borman, "Apollo 8, you are go for TLI" Translunar Injection. 

The crew would restart the S-IVB third stage and accelerate to 24,200 miles per hour—faster than anyone had travelled before—and leave earth orbit. It was stated in the usual non-emotional and matter of fact way that communications always occurred between mission control and spacecraft. But this was one of the most profound to be transmitted. For the first time a spacecraft would leave the influence of Earth and fly into deep space--and just a little over seven years since humans had first flown in space and just ten years after the creation of NASA.

It was known that weightlessness could induce nausea and vertigo initially. This hadn't been much of a problem with Mercury and Gemini spacecraft which allowed relatively little movement. But with more freedom of movement in the larger Apollo spacecraft, both Lovell and Anders had experienced a little nausea at first. 

However, a couple of hours after TLI, Frank Borman began to experience vomiting and diarrhea. When mission control finally learned of it, they almost called for a mission abort. One fear was that Borman had radiation sickness from passing through the Van Allen belt. But Borman was feeling better by that time and neither Lovell nor Anders had symptoms.

Orbital insertion

The main engine of the CSM, the Service Propulsion System engine (SPS) was rated at 20,500 pounds of thrust and was designed to change the velocity of the CSM to allow it to enter and leave lunar orbit and to change the altitude of orbits. It was powered by Aerozine 50 fuel, a 50/50 mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UMDH) and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. This combination was hypergolic, meaning that the fuel and oxidizer would ignite on contact requiring no ignition source. The fuel and oxidizer were pressurized with helium so that no pumps were required. It was as simple and reliable as the engine could be. 

Now after almost three days in space, it was time to fire the SPS to slow the spacecraft such that it would enter orbit around the moon. Once committed, the engine had to fire again, so that Apollo 8 would come home. Borman wanted to be absolutely sure that the spacecraft was in perfect condition before committing to Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI). 

Finally, Capcom, Gerry Carr radioed, "At 68:04 you are go for LOI" . Then added after a pause, "You are riding the best bird we can find."

"Roger", Borman replied, "It’s a good one!"

LOI would occur on the back side of the moon after losing communication with earth. For the first time, a manned spacecraft would be out of communication with mission control. When the spacecraft passed behind the limb of the moon, exactly at the predicted time, the carrier wave from the space craft ceased and the mission controllers heard only silence. Now all they could do was wait for the sound of the signal on the other side. When it came they would know whether the burn had been successful. 

When the orbital insertion engine burn was complete the spacecraft had attained an orbit that was 160 nautical miles high by 60 nautical miles, the low point—exactly the parameters that the trajectory planners had calculated. But at this point only the three astronauts knew it. Apollo 8 was in lunar orbit.

Earthrise!

After they entered lunar orbit the space craft was flying tail first with the windows oriented toward the lunar surface. Once they had fired the SPS a second time to circularize their orbit, Borman rolled and pitched the spacecraft so that they were now flying nose forward and with the windows looking forward. At that moment they could see the lunar horizon with earth coming up over the limb of the moon.

Bill Anders was the first to see it.

"Oh my God!" "Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty."

"Hey", Borman said joking, "don't take that, it's not scheduled."

Anders laughing," You got a color film, Jim?" "Hand me that roll of color quick, would you..."

Lovell said, "Oh man, that's great!"

Anders took several pictures with various settings. It wasn't until they returned to earth that the famous picture we know as "Earthrise" was known. It subsequently has become one of the most famous photographs taken during the Apollo program.

Borman would later recall that after seeing the earth, he lost all interest in the colorless moon. The earth was the only color they could see.

Genesis

As the spacecraft entered the ninth orbit, Apollo 8 was scheduled for another broadcast on the evening of Christmas Eve. It was expected to be one of the most watched in history. Months before, NASA knowing this had instructed Borman to say "something appropriate". No other guidance was given.

Over the course of the broadcast the astronauts shared their impressions of the moon. 

Borman shared, " A vast lonely type of existence--not a very appetizing place to live or work!"

Lovell concurred, "the vast loneliness is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back on Earth.”

As they were concluding the broadcast, the crew had one final message. Bill Anders began:

"It's now approaching lunar sunrise, and the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you!"

He began to read what they had prepared. "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth."

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." 

Then as he finished reading Jim Lovell began, "And God called the Light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so." 

"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Finally, Commander Borman concluded: "And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place. And let the dry land appear, and it was so."

"And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." 

"And from the crew of Apollo 8 we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth!"

Then the broad cast abruptly concluded with no commentary from Mission Control. 

They would now begin the 10th and final orbit and fire the SPS for the trip back home.

"There is a Santa Claus!"

As with the Orbital Insertion burn, the Trans Earth Injection (TEI) burn would also occur on the back side of the moon when they were out of communication with Houston. 

Before the loss of signal, Capcom and rookie astronaut Ken Mattingly was on duty in Mission Control. Mattingly was the only unmarried astronaut and the crew briefly joked with him about the bachelor pulling Christmas Eve duty. 

In the early hours of Christmas morning, Mattingly read the numbers that the crew would need to enter into the guidance computer for the SPS burn to provide the trajectory for the return to earth. Jim Lovell read them back to ensure accuracy. 

After they had disappeared behind the moon and the spacecraft was once more out of communication--hopefully for the last time—the controllers in Houston again waited for the re-acquisition of the signal from the spacecraft.

At the proper time, Jim Lovell once again entered the series of numbers into the computer. When the time came, he pressed "Proceed" and waited for the hypergolic propellants to do their job.

If the SPS worked, they would emerge into communication a few minutes sooner due to the increased velocity, if it didn't fire, then the signal would be later and they would be in permanent orbit around the moon. 

When the time came for Houston to re-acquire the signal, Mattingly began radio calls to the spacecraft. "Apollo 8, Houston…"

Then and few more times, "Apollo 8, Houston…" and waited.

Then the sound of the carrier wave crackled over the loud speakers in mission control and Jim Lovell's voice, "Roger, Houston. Please be informed there is a Santa Claus!"

Mattingly replied with relief, "You are the best ones to know!"

"You saved 1968!"

Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec 27. In the weeks following, the crew were celebrities. There were so many "firsts" on this flight. They were the first to leave earth orbit, first to orbit another heavenly body, first human eyes to see the far side of the moon.

Among the hundreds and thousands of cards they received, Frank Borman remembers one particularly. It read, "Thanks Apollo 8, you saved 1968!"

With the successful conclusion of the mission, Apollo 8 had effectively won the Cold War race to the moon. The Soviets cancelled any further plans to send men to the moon.

 References:

Apollo 8 Mission Transcripts, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, January 1969

Kluger, Jeffery, 2017 Apollo 8, The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon.

Zimmerman, Robert, 1998, Genesis, The Story of Apollo 8.

W. David Woods, 2010, How Apollo Flew to the Moon.