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  Apollo 8 50th anniversary (Dec. 21-27, 2018)

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Author Topic:   Apollo 8 50th anniversary (Dec. 21-27, 2018)
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-21-2018 07:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Twitter:
50 years ago today, Apollo 8 launched on a mission to orbit the moon for the first time. The story of this mission is one of American courage and dedication at Christmas.

Space Cadet Carl
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Posts: 225
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 12-21-2018 08:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Space Cadet Carl   Click Here to Email Space Cadet Carl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
One of my best childhood memories is of lying underneath our Christmas tree on the night of December 24, 1968 and seeing those ghostly black and white television images from lunar orbit, while the crew took turns reading from the Book of Genesis. After the broadcast was over, everybody in our living room just looked at each other in silence. Wow, what a moment!

Glint
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Posts: 1044
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 12-21-2018 08:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Glint   Click Here to Email Glint     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The great thing about launch day in 1968 was, not only was it the day before Christmas week, but it was Saturday, meaning no school. It was up bright and before the rest of the family for launch coverage on CBS.

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4208
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 12-21-2018 10:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As a child I was interested in all media coverage of the space program to date, but Apollo 8 really fired up my imagination and the compulsion to collect.

BNorton
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Posts: 150
From:
Registered: Oct 2005

posted 12-21-2018 10:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for BNorton   Click Here to Email BNorton     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In the NASA video, the NASA Administrator does not appear to know the history of his agency. While Apollo 6 had multiple problems and did not meet specific mission objectives due to the problems, I have never heard or read where anyone referred to it as a failure, nor do I recall (nor can I find in a quick scan of Apollo 6 flight history) that the service module engine failed to restart. It did not burn near mission end due to a lack of fuel because of an extra long prior burn.

I am sure someone in this forum will correct me if I am wrong.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-21-2018 10:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think when Bridenstine said, "In the previous mission, that single mission failed to reignite even once," he is using "failed" to describe the original Apollo 6 mission plan rather than a technical failure of the SPS engine. That said, I agree that could have been worded more precisely.

BNorton
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Registered: Oct 2005

posted 12-21-2018 11:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for BNorton   Click Here to Email BNorton     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I listened to the video a couple more times, and found it to have several more errors. He, the Administrator, does explicitly refer to the service module engine as failing to restart after talking about the multiple times it would be fired throughout the mission.

I think you are being too kind. The Administrator (or whomever wrote his script) needed to do a much better job.

Apollo 8 was a great U.S. accomplishment. Having missed watching the previous two, it was the first Saturn V launch we watched from our backyard.

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-21-2018 11:20 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA Johnson Space Center video
The historic year 1968 was closed out by NASA with a first-of-its-kind accomplishment: putting human beings in orbit around Earth’s Moon, a feat that also provided the people of Earth with their first-ever view of their planet from afar. So cozy up around the fire and join us to recall the events of fifty years ago which forged the path to those first footprints on the Moon.

perineau
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Posts: 244
From: FRANCE
Registered: Jul 2007

posted 12-21-2018 11:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for perineau   Click Here to Email perineau     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not to be too picky, but the "walkout" footage of the Apollo 8 crew was from a practice run and not the real thing!

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-21-2018 03:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is a new, ultra-high definition (UHD, or 4K) version of the Earthrise visualization first published in 2013. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center video:
In December of 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to leave our home planet and travel to another body in space. But as crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders all later recalled, the most important thing they discovered was Earth. Using photo mosaics and elevation data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), this video commemorates Apollo 8's historic flight by recreating the moment when the crew first saw and photographed the Earth rising from behind the Moon. Narrator Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man on the Moon," sets the scene for a three-minute visualization of the view from both inside and outside the spacecraft accompanied by the onboard audio of the astronauts.

perineau
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Posts: 244
From: FRANCE
Registered: Jul 2007

posted 12-24-2018 08:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for perineau   Click Here to Email perineau     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Half a century ago tonight... God Bless the crew of Apollo 8!

Buel
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Posts: 653
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 12-24-2018 11:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From BBC Radio 5: Apollo 8: Christmas on the Far Side of the Moon
For many, Christmas is for spending time close to loved ones. But in 1968, astronauts Frank Borman, Bill Anders and Jim Lovell would spend their Christmas Day further away from home than any human had ever done before.

With the help of archive material, former NASA employees, author Robert Kurson and the astronauts themselves, Anna Foster remembers the Apollo 8 mission on its 50th anniversary.

NavyPilot
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Posts: 36
From:
Registered: Nov 2015

posted 12-25-2018 07:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for NavyPilot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I enjoy pointing out to people that the crew of Apollo 8 also were the first humans on terrestrial record ever to fly TO EARTH (having to maneuver actively to enter its gravitational field), just as any other visitor might.

Take that, aliens! You must document any claims in the future...

Buel
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Posts: 653
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 12-25-2018 02:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by NavyPilot:
...first humans on terrestrial record ever to fly TO EARTH
This was brilliant!!

Blackarrow
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Posts: 3160
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 12-25-2018 05:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm still trying to work out which is more surprising: that Apollo 8 succeeded; that no-one has been back to the Moon since Apollo ended; or that the three Apollo 8 astronauts are still with us 50 years later.

holcombeyates
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Posts: 253
From: UK
Registered: Dec 2010

posted 12-25-2018 06:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for holcombeyates   Click Here to Email holcombeyates     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thought it might be of interest to post the UK television listings for Christmas Day 1968. There are no hard scheduled times for transmissions from the moon, so I guess that it would have just interrupted scheduled programmes as and when. Also an interesting article on the technical risks that were inherent in the mission.

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 986
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 12-26-2018 09:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From KRTV, CBS television affiliate in Great Falls, Montana, this short segment with Frank Borman regarding the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8.

Buel
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Posts: 653
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 12-26-2018 01:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
I'm still trying to work out which is more surprising...
This was excellent!!

denali414
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Posts: 642
From: Raleigh, NC
Registered: Aug 2017

posted 12-27-2018 05:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for denali414   Click Here to Email denali414     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A good show about Apollo 8 on Nova last night: Apollo's Daring Mission (Season 45, Episode 18).
Apollo astronauts and engineers tell the inside story of how the first mission to the moon, Apollo 8, pioneered groundbreaking technologies that would pave the way to land a man on the moon and win the space race.

star51L
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Posts: 354
From: Vilano Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 12-27-2018 06:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for star51L   Click Here to Email star51L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
...or that the three Apollo 8 astronauts are still with us 50 years later.
...and all three are still married to their first wife!

onesmallstep
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Posts: 1313
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 12-28-2018 09:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for onesmallstep   Click Here to Email onesmallstep     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Next up: Apollo 9, and all three astronauts are still with us as well. Looking forward to their appearances and memories

David Carey
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Posts: 802
From:
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 01-26-2019 01:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
An article from the Bartlett (Texas) Tribune details an award ceremony 50 years ago on Jan. 25, 1969, where the Apollo 8 crew were honored in-absentia by the Texas Press Association. Paul Haney represented NASA for the event and presumably brought back three sizable high-relief plaques for the astronauts. Here is Jim Lovell's copy.

kosmo
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Posts: 394
From:
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 01-27-2019 07:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Beautiful plaque. Apollo 8 was an incredible mission. Its 50th seems to have come and gone without much notice.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-27-2019 08:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
While not as hyped as the upcoming Apollo 11 anniversary, there were at least five galas or special events to mark Apollo 8's 50th; two books released (three, if you count a new audiobook version of an earlier title); two television specials; numerous print, TV and radio news reports about the 50th anniversary of Earthrise; and the official naming of two craters on the moon.

All times are CT (US)

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