Apollo 8 Mission: Landing with No Lifeboat
The Apollo 8’s mission was a result of speedy and calculated risks by NASA to reach the moon before the Soviet Union. This mission led way for the Apollo 11’s lunar landing 7 months later.
The mission comprised of just 16 weeks of planning and launch, compared to other missions taking approximately a year. It did not even involve the use of flight simulators since they were incomplete. Furthermore, their rocket, Saturn V, would be flying without a lunar module, which is used as the backup engine in times of emergencies. Thus, the mission was rife with danger.
According to Robert Kurson, the author of ‘Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon,’ it was Saturn V’s third flight ever and its first ever flight with humans. With no successful test flights, Saturn V was being sent 240,000 miles away to the moon with no redundancy and certainly no lifeboat. This was being at a time when 853 miles was the world altitude record.
Millions had watched the countdown and listened to the astronauts’ broadcast while they were in orbit, but many of them were probably not aware of the dangers involved.
However, as we all know today, the mission was a huge success. Anders’ iconic photo of the Earth even won the honor of a postage stamp. Recently, Frank Borman, Robert Kurson and Jim Lovell were interviewed about this historical venture and its significance.
When asked what they remembered most about the mission, Borman reminisced about seeing the earth over the lunar horizon. Similarly, Lovell will always remember seeing the moon up close for the first time. They were, after all, the first 3 people to do so.
They were also asked whether they had any doubts about returning home. Borman had 100% confidence in the mission and hardware and never had any doubts or else he would have never gone on the mission in the first place. Lovell had similar views.
Another interesting question posed to these heroes was whether the Soviet risk of reaching the moon first motivated them to complete the mission. According to Lovell, they didn’t care about beating the Russians to the moon. For them, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to look at parts of the moon that had never before been seen by almost anyone. However, according to Borman, the Apollo program wasn’t intended to be an extraordinary scientific endeavor. It was a race against the Soviets to reach the moon, and that is the reason they pressed on.