Apollo 8: Man Around the Moon
Washington, DC: GPO, 1968. Wraps. Format is approximately 8 inches by 10.25 inches. Wraps. Profusely illustrated (most in color). Covers creased and somewhat scuffed and some edge wear, small creases at spine. Apollo 8, the second manned spaceflight mission in the Apollo space program, was launched on December 21, 1968, and became the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it and return safely to Earth. The astronaut crew — Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders — became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit; see Earth as a whole planet; enter the gravity well of another celestial body; orbit another celestial body; directly see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes; witness an Earthrise; escape the gravity of another celestial body; and re-enter the gravitational well of Earth. The 1968 mission, the Saturn V rocket's first crewed launch, was also the first human spaceflight launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The Saturn V rocket used by Apollo 8 was designated SA-503, or the "03rd" model of the Saturn V ("5") Rocket to be used in the Saturn-Apollo ("SA") program. When it was erected in the Vertical Assembly Building on December 20, 1967, it was thought that the rocket would be used for an unmanned Earth-orbit test flight carrying a boilerplate Command/Service Module. Apollo 6 had suffered several major problems during its April 1968 flight, including severe pogo oscillation during its first stage, two second stage engine failures, and a third stage that failed to reignite in orbit. Without assurances that these problems had been rectified, NASA administrators could not justify risking a manned mission until additional unmanned test flights proved that the Saturn V was ready. Condition: Good.
Keywords: NASA, Space, Moon, Apollo 8, Astronauts, William Anders, James Lovell, Jr., Frank Borman
[Book #16356]
Price: $30.00