Apollo 8 - Blog Posts

Apollo 8 Christmas Message

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and Moon seen from Apollo 8. They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.

https://www.instagram.com/spaceexploration_genz/

https://www.vsual.co/shop/space-exploration-gen-z

https://www.redbubble.com/people/astro3antica/shop

Flight Director/Attitude Indicator

The Flight Director/Attitude Indicator (FD/AI) is one of the most important instruments in the Apollo program.

https://www.instagram.com/spaceexploration_genz/

https://www.vsual.co/shop/space-exploration-gen-z

https://www.redbubble.com/people/astro3antica/shop

Okay then... how about we look at the lesser-known USA-first achievements, then?

First superheavy launch vehicle that worked and didn't blow up (Saturn V). 

First reusable piloted spacecraft and the first spaceplane (X-15).

First pilot-controlled space flight (Freedom 7)

First orbital human space mission that landed with pilot still in spacecraft and thus the first complete human spaceflight by FAI definitions (Friendship 7)

First rendezvous and docking in orbit (Gemini 8 - Agena Target Vehicle)

First successful orbit of different planets (Pioneer 10 mission).

First solar orbit (Pioneer 5).

First and second and third interstellar craft (Voyager 1, Voyager 2, New Horizons).

First manned maneuvering unit (Gemini 4)

First multi person multi spacecraft mission in space (Gemini 6).

First orbital vector adjustment to pinpoint precision (Gemini 6)   

First spy satellite (Corona KH-1)

First successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite (KH-1 film return bucket)

First aerial recovery of an object returning from Earth orbit (KH-1 film return bucket)

First pinpoint landing on the Moon (Surveyor 1).

First manned orbit of the Moon (Apollo 8).

First human-crewed spaceflight to, and orbit of, another celestial object: the Moon (Apollo 11)

First rover on Mars (Sojourner)

First spacecraft to orbit Mars (Mariner 9).

First reusable orbital-class spaceplane (Space Shuttle).

First solar powered satellite (Vanguard-1)

First communications satellite (Echo 1, Telstar)

First weather satellite (TIROS)

First satellite in a polar orbit (Discoverer 1)

First geosynchronous satellite (Syncom 2)

First satellite navigation system (Transit)

First Mars flyby (Mariner 4)

First human spaceflight that escaped Earth's influence (Apollo 8)

First X-ray orbital observatory (the Einstein Observatory)

First Jupiter flyby (Pioneer 10)

First Mercury Flyby (Mariner 10)

the space race may be the funniest point in history period and i'll stand by that. the US is like "yes whoever gets into space first will prove once and for all that our economic model is superior and that we are, in general, the superior country of superior and smarter people." then the soviets just went and did it and the US freaked out and needed to cover their ass so were like "WE MEAN THE MOON, WE MEAN THE FIRST TO LAND ON THE MOON."

And now we have the Apollo 8 launch. These were the first guys outside the Low Earth Orbit, flying right by the Moon. You can see the stage separation from outside, this time from the better angle and in color. Dem J-2 cluster though...

The S-Ic was running on RP-1 (airplane fuel)/liquid oxygen mixture, thus the orange bright flame. S-II on the other hand used liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen mixture, which means the exhaust (water vapor) is invisible.

Around 1:28 you can see the vapor cone around the front of S-II, which appeared when the rocket was passing through the sound bareer, and disappeared shortly after.

After stage separation you can see that first stage engines are still glowing orange. The center engine however isn’t - is was shut down thirty seconds before (around 2:40) to avoid oscillations.

At the end of the video you can see the interstage separating, which was done to reduce the spacecraft's mass.