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Michael Collins—who was bumped from Apollo 8 due to a medical issue and of course ended up flying Apollo 11 instead—became increasingly convinced with time that it was Apollo 8, more so than 11, that represented the true landmark in human history.
Apollo 11 was when we first arrived somewhere new, yes, but it was Apollo 8 when we first dared to venture out into the dark. For the first time we surrendered the ability to quickly return to Earth in a matter of minutes or low-single-digit hours.
Collins’ autobiography Carrying the Fire is easily the best of the astronaut memoirs, and is written purely by Collins without a ghostwriter. It wasn’t one of the talents NASA was looking for, but I’m glad they sent an excellent writer to the moon.
Can't more emphatically recommend Collins' book. Having read my fair share of Apollo stuff, this, and the Blye Cox Apollo books are easily the best.
Also, I'll add that apparently Charles Lindbergh spoke with Jim Lovell at the 11 launch and also expressed that, in his mind, the most significant leap was also 8, which I have sympathy for. There's something about being on that spacecraft for the first TLI, having nothing but the math to trust, that is deeply exhilerating, incredibly scary, and awe-inspiring.
Michael Collins was also CAPCOM (capsule communicator - the one who was actually talking to the astronauts) when they initiated TLI (translunar injection - leaving earth's orbit for the first time). He was the one who said "Apollo 8, go for TLI".
Collins’ autobiography Carrying the Fire is also an excellent book to get a feel of the 1960ies. Like four (out of twelve?) people dying during training because, well it's a really hard training. In 2023 if so much as one person gets an injury then the project is suspended for years until a committee decides it is safe again.
Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger is one of my favourite books. It was basically extraordinary that NASA gambled so extravagantly, combining multiple steps in the planned sequence into one mega mission in order to get back on schedule after the disastrous fire and meet Kennedy's aspirational goal. Chances of success? (surviving the mission), maybe 50%.
Thinking about Frank Borman being alive and well and still flying his plane has been a favourite thought for me, and I'm very sad to have to retire it.
It is thought-provoking to consider how much the success of the Apollo programme depended on courage as well as other qualities of character:
"When Shepard was grounded in October 1963, Grissom and Borman became the prime crew of Gemini 3.[41] Grissom invited Borman to his house to talk to him about the mission, and after a long discussion, decided that he could not work with Borman.[34] According to Gene Cernan, "the egos of Grissom and Borman were too big to fit into a single spacecraft".[44] Slayton therefore replaced Borman with John Young.[41]
Slayton still wanted Borman for the two-week flight [...] so Borman was assigned as backup commander of Gemini 4, with Jim Lovell as his co-pilot. [...] Prime and backup crews trained for the mission together, and Borman found the experience as a backup valuable, amounting to a dress rehearsal of their own mission.[49]
Jeffrey Kluger also wrote Lost Moon, about Apollo 13, in collaboration with Jim Lovell. That is also an excellent read.
Apollo 8 was the greatest of all the Apollo missions. The greatest leap into the unknown with the greatest number of unknowns!
For me, Borman and his crewmates never quite got the kudos they deserved.
A true loss.
> Borman and his crewmates never quite got the kudos they deserved.
It’s worse than that. Indiana named a horrible stretch of perpetually under construction interstate after him.
I read this book, https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Men-Odyssey-Astronauts-Journey... and Apollo 8's accomplishments were way under-rated.
I think there are now only eight men still alive that flew to the moon and only four that walked on it. I hope there'll be some still alive to see the next person walk on the moon.
I'm nowhere near the age of an Apollo astronaut, and I hope I'm alive to see the next person on the moon.
> next person walk on the moon.
2025-2026 if everything goes to plan at NASA
The Chinese also announced that they will be attempting to build a lunar base with Russia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, South Africa, UAE, and Belarus by 2035.
I'm curious what JAXA, ESA, and ISRO are going to try with regards to human space flight. I know JAXA and ISRO work very closely with each other, but seem to be much more probe and rocket driven for financial reasons.
Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/893/
Looks like about 7 years until the expected number of moon walkers drops below 1.0.
Gimme a rocket and a space suit! I volunteer! No salary!
I have no idea what physical shape Aldrin is in these days at 90 years old, but it's really interesting to think if he holds out another few years, he might be able to return if there's any realistic chance he could withstand the g forces and zero gravity.
Ken Mattingly also died recently https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Mattingly
I only know this because he worked at my company. And I only found that out the day after he died. A little sad I never got to meet him.
During the Apollo 1 investigation, he said something that suck with me when thinking of begrudging users who are willing to look past faults for utility:
"There's no question that it was a coffin, and I'd have flown it gladly."
Explains the preference for test pilots -- when abnormal is normal, you're in rarified company.
Amazing when "the office" might kill you.
This reminded me too of Jim Lovell's reaction when they switched the Apollo 8 plan at "the last minute" to actually be the first TLI mission. Something about the way he tells it, and just the sheer (and apparently extremely genuine) reaction of awe, wonder, excitement, mixed with a seeming complete lack of worry, concern, self-preservation instinct, just kinda signals to me those guys were just built different.
Damn, what a badass comment and you know he meant it.
I've been listening with my kid to the excellent BBC podcast "13 Minutes to the Moon"[1]. It does a great job describing both the astronauts' experience (including Frank Borman and Apollo 8) and the scale and speed of efforts on the ground. I highly recommend it.
I listened to the first episode and it seemed to have what I call "Ted radio hour syndrome": an excess of quick cut audio, sound effects, and drawn out narration that had me, an enthusiast of manned spaceflight, bored.
Maybe it was like season 1 of a TV show where you gotta give it a few shots.
The book "A Man on the Moon" was quite well written though, and some day I may read "failure is not an option".
This video of the Apollo 8 launch along with commentary from the astronauts always gives me goosebumps:
Seems Jim Lovell is now the oldest living Apollo astronaut.
Imagine your obituary being hidden behind a paywall.
Official statement from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-administrator-honors-...
Two interesting facts about Apollo 8 beyond the whole first-flight-to-the-moon thing:
* Two of its three astronauts became CEOs of Fortune 500 companies: Borman at Eastern Airlines, and William Anders at General Dynamics. (The third, Jim Lovell, stayed with NASA and survived the Apollo 13 explosion.)
* Borman (command pilot) and Lovell (pilot) had flown together on Gemini. Borman again commanded Apollo 8, despite Lovell having more experience in space as he had flown again on Gemini as commander.
...And Jim got into the Telecommunications business before all the consolidation stuff and made himself a significant sum of money along with it!
We are approaching a time when there will be no one alive who walked on the moon.
Last time someone walked on the Moon I could barely walk at all.
I’m going to be pissed if I don’t get to see somebody walk on the Moon again before I die.
I still haven't recovered from Ken...
Somewhat off-topic, but did anyone notice:
Apollo
The "A" could symbolize a rocket, the both "o" would stand for earth and moon (also in the official logo), the "ll" could represent break lines, symbolizing the vast distance between the two bodies and "p" could mean impulse (like the symbol in physics) or propulsion which brings the rocket from one place to the other.
i remember apollo 8 so well. how brilliant.
is anything that good ever going to happen again? often these days i think not.
When Crew1 launched, I watched it and the landing like it was an Apollo mission. The US sent people to space, again, finally. It's sad that we had to get back to just that capability.
The Mars rover landings, Pluto flyby and SpaceX successful returns have been pretty exciting. Feels like we’re building to more exciting times with the beginning of return to human space flight past LEO now.
pretty clever mission patch:
Rocket Men by Robert Kurson tells the Apollo 8 story in a captivating manner. Some of the passages are quite dramatic but it's justified given the litany of firsts accomplished by the mission.
There’s a display in the Air & Space Museum here in DC with a succinct quote from Mr. Borman:
“Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty! “
Colonel Borman, may you rest in peace. For those reading this, check his wikipedia page. He has a very inspiring legacy.
Oh no. A really sad moment. My condolences are with him. RIP.
Godspeed Frank. Thanks for your service.
So sad. We really need to get back to the moon, not just for the adventure, but for the technology. There was a lot of technology that came out of the space program that wouldn't exist, even today.