On October 11, 1968 Apollo 7 was launched on a Saturn IB rocket, making it the first successful crewed Apollo mission and the only crewed Apollo mission to use the Saturn IB Rocket.
Apollo 7 was the first test of the command and service module with a crew. The crew orbited the Earth 163 times and spent 10 days and 20 hours in space. This mission was the first opportunity to test the first of the new Block II spacecraft (CSM 101) in orbit. The only significant difficulty in the mission was the fact that all three astronauts developed severe head colds.
Meet the Astronauts
- Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Commander: Schirra was the 5th American in space, aboard the Mercury 8 "Sigma 7." He was also the Commander for Gemini VI-A.
- Donn F. Eisele, Command Module Pilot: Apollo 7 was Eisele's first space flight with NASA.
- Walter Cunningham, Lunar Module Pilot: Apollo 7 was Cunningham's first space flight with NASA.
Coming at You Live From Apollo 7!
This black-and-white television camera was carried on the flight of Apollo 7. It was used by the Apollo 7 astronauts Walter A. Schirra, Donn R. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. The astronauts gave several video press conferences from Earth orbit during their flight. The camera has three attachable lenses: a 10mm lens, a wide angle lens, and an extra wide angle lens.