Apollo 8 astronauts describe Moon Swallow's observation in a new film



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A film that follows the journey of Apollo 8, the first trip the astronauts made around the moon, shares the feelings felt by the crew members when they met their destination.

the new movie, dubbed "First to the Moon," was released on YouTube and Google Play streaming services earlier this month, after a very low profile last December. In an exclusive clip of the film, the three Apollo 8 astronauts describe what happened when the spacecraft escaped communication on December 24, 1968, during a planned lunar orbital mission.

The small spacecraft went towards the end of the moon, which the astronauts could not see during their three days en route to their destination. Apollo 8 Cmdr. Frank Borman explained in the video. "We were upside down and backwards so we could shoot the rocket to slow us down," he said.

Related: Apollo 11 to 50 years old: complete guide to the historic Moon Landing mission

They moved into the darkest part of the shadow of the moon, which is called the shadow. It was a darkness difficult to imagine here on Earth. "There was no shine of the earthAnd since there was no sun, so when we looked out the window, all the stars came out, "said Jim Lovell, pilot of the Apollo 8 control module, in the movie.

Member of the crew Bill Anders added, the trio could see stars everywhere. There were so many stars that even the familiar constellations were washed away (and the astronauts were familiar with these constellations because they used star gazing to help calibrate the navigation system of their spacecraft).

"And yet, looking over my shoulders," says Anders, "I saw suddenly [that] the stars are gone. A black hole, and that was the moon. And I must say that at this stage of the game, the hair is a little raised on the neck. "

Apollo 8 returned safely to Earth and was one of the major milestones in the accomplishment of the first lunar landing. This happened in July 1969 after two other missions had docked and lunar ancestry. The 50th anniversary of the landing, Apollo 11, will take place on July 20th.

Anders and Borman never came back to the moon. Lovell should land on the surface during Apollo 13 in 1970, but the mission was interrupted en route after the explosion of a damaged oxygen tank the service module. Lovell and his teammates executed a lunge maneuver around the moon, using lunar gravity to safely return to Earth.

Overall, NASA landed six times on the moon with astronauts before concluding the Apollo moon program in 1972.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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