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Apollo 8
Mission Summary
Apollo 8 Facts
Apollo 8 Crew
Spacecraft
Images
Audio/Video
The Apollo Program |
| Lunar Module: |
none flown, Lunar Test Article ballast |
| Command and Service
Module: |
Apollo 8
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| Crew:
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Frank Borman, commander
James A. Lovell, command module pilot
William A. Anders, lunar module pilot |
| Launch: |
December 21, 1968
12:51:00 UT (7:51:00 a.m. EST)
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A |
| Lunar Orbit |
December 24, 1968
(total of 10 lunar orbits) |
| Returned to Earth: |
December 27, 1968
splashdown 15:51:42 UT (10:51:42 a.m. EST) |
| Mission Duration: |
146 hours 59 minutes 49 seconds |
| Retrieval site: |
Pacific Ocean 8° 7.5' N, 165°
1.2' W |
| Retrieval ship: |
U.S.S. Yorktown |
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Special Payload:
- A lunar module was not carried but a Lunar Test Article which
is equivalent in weight to a lunar module was carried as ballast.
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Highlights/Notes:
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- The mission was the second flight in the Apollo program and
the first manned flight on the Saturn V rocket. Saturn V launch
vehicle with the Apollo spacecraft on top stood 363 feet (110
meters) tall.
- Launched from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center and marked
the first manned use of the Moonport.
- The five first-stage engines developed combined thrust of
7.5 million pounds at liftoff.
- First humans to journey to the Earth's Moon.
- First pictures of Earth from deep space taken by astronauts.
- New world speed record: 24,200 mph (38,938 km/hr).
- First live TV coverage of the lunar surface.
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