Page 18 - Apollo 8 News Today

And the other people said, no, we should send one more time, just to make sure. >> the cia began getting signals that maybe the soviets were going to try a circum-lunar flight, a big figure eight around the moon, which would have massively undercut the p.r. potential of a lunar landing or even, you know, a lunar orbital flight. >> to make matters worse for nasa, the lunar module wasnt ready to go into space. it was months behind schedule. but instead of falling further behind the soviets, nasa o...

Claiming lbjs presidency and alienating millions of americans. against this turbulent backdrop, nasa resumed its manned flights and aimed to test in space the craft that it hoped to land on the moon before years end. a sudden change of plans turned apollo 8 into another make-or-break mission. >> apollo 8 was not going to be a lunar flight. apollo 8 was going to be an orbital flight to test the lunar module in earth orbit to make sure everything was correct with the two vehicles before we ever co...

Earth, and look how small it is and how you can, you know, cover it up with your thumb. and you realize we were so fortunate to have a body that was in the proper position with the sun with the proper mass and everything to allow life to begin. >> with the world engrossed in apollo 8 epic journey, the astronauts marked the holiday season by taking turns reading from the old testament. >> god said let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear, and it was s...

Celebration for after you came back? >> well, partly. but i planned ahead of time, and i gave my wife a present that essentially the card said, "from the man on the moon." [ laughter ] >> apollo 8 showed everyone up, certainly the soviets. but while america was now leading the space race, the end of the decade and jfks deadline were quickly approaching. coming up, there was only one giant step left to take on the pathway to the moon, and it would mark an epic moment in human history.

Earth, and look how small it is and how you can, you know, cover it up with your thumb. and you realize we were so fortunate to have a body that was in the proper position with the sun with the proper mass and everything to allow life to begin. >> with the world engrossed in apollo 8 epic journey, the astronauts marked the holiday season by taking turns reading from the old testament. >> god said let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear, and it was s...

Astronaut, not a cosmonaut, would be the first to fly around the moon. >> it was one of the big gambles that nasa at the direction of the president took in order to establish that america was better than the soviet union. >> a big gamble indeed. and for all, it was less than two years before that apollo 1 demonstrated just how complex every mission was. nobody knew that better than frank hormen, the point man in the apollo investigation. nasa tapped him to man the latest mission. >> i was called...

And the other people said, no, we should send one more time, just to make sure. >> the cia began getting signals that maybe the soviets were going to try a circum-lunar flight, a big figure eight around the moon, which would have massively undercut the p.r. potential of a lunar landing or even, you know, a lunar orbital flight. >> to make matters worse for nasa, the lunar module wasnt ready to go into space. it was months behind schedule. but instead of falling further behind the soviets, nasa o...

And the other people said, no, we should send one more time, just to make sure. >> the cia began getting signals that maybe the soviets were going to try a circum-lunar flight, a big figure eight around the moon, which would have massively undercut the p.r. potential of a lunar landing or even, you know, a lunar orbital flight. >> to make matters worse for nasa, the lunar module wasnt ready to go into space. it was months behind schedule. but instead of falling further behind the soviets, nasa o...

Astronauts of apollo 8, the first humans to orbit the moon. described what they saw and read scripture from the book of genesis to the rest of us back here. later that night they took a photo that would change the way we see and think about our world. it was an image of earth. beautiful, breathtaking. a glowing marble of blue oceans and green forests and brown mountains rising over the surface of the moon. while the sight of our planet from space might seem routine today imagine what it looked l...

To do around mars. >> openfully go to mars and come back on a rare opportunity. in 2018 the planets will align so they can shoot this rocket straight this, it will whip around mars, not land, they will come within 100 miles of the planet and come back again. and-- >> of what use is that? >> its something thats never been done before, now, in the 1960s, when nasa did it with apollo 8, it wowed the world and this would do that except at mars and its an effort to explore mars and for interest in sp...