The story of NASA's mission is the greatest adventure in the history of space travel

Fifty years ago, when the Apollo 8 mission was launched in space, the Apollo program was on the verge of failure. But the success of the mission paved the way for landing on the moon a few months after the return of the Apollo 8 mission and ignited the imagination of people with a message from the orbit of the moon on Christmas Eve.

On December 21, 1968, the clock indicated 7:50 am, at Cape Canaveral, now called Cape Kennedy, Florida, the Apollo 8 crew, Frank Burman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, tightened their safety belts. Inside the spacecraft carried by the Saturn 5 missile, the most powerful machine ever designed by humans.

After a few moments, about 4 million liters of fuel would burn under them, according to a BBC television commentator who watched them, "They are sitting on the equivalent of a huge bomb."

There was no doubt that everyone was concerned, and no, a few months ago I had an experience with a Saturn 5 rocket. She was not skilled at flying. The violent vibrations and the impact of the gravity after the launch were moments that would end the lives of all the passengers of the rocket.

Although the missile has been modified since this incident, NASA has warned Burman 's wife more than once that her husband' s chances of escaping from this mission are only 50%.

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The Saturn 5 missile was not the only concern of NASA management: Apollo 8, which would represent a leap forward in the race for human landing on the moon, would have carried out missions that had never been performed before.

It was the first spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, encircling the moon and the first on Earth at 40,000 km / h. The mission was a calculated risk of reaching the Moon, the closest neighbor of the planet, before the Soviet Union.

"It was a very daring decision," says Tesl Moir Harmony, secretary of the Apollo Pavilion at the National Museum of Aeronautics and Space in Washington. No one at NASA was aware of the seriousness of the mission and the agency was widely criticized by British astronaut Sir Bernard Lovell, who said the United States was endangering human life. "

However, all these aspirations were not planned from the outset: the Apollo 8 mission was to lead the first Apollo Lunar experiment in Earth orbit, but the production of the lunar unit was not completed in time. In addition, the CIA warned NASA that the Soviets were preparing to launch their manned mission around the moon.

"Not everyone has noticed that the Apollo program was neither an expedition nor a scientific discovery, it was one of the cold war fights and we were just fighters on one of his battlefields, "Burman said.

After only four months of intensive training, former warlord Bormann says that despite the fears of his superiors, there is no doubt that the mission will succeed.

"We had to change the plane of the mission to make the landing on the moon before the end of the decade, as President John F. Kennedy had promised.This mission was, in my opinion, very important not only for the United States, but for all people who enjoy freedom, "said Burman.

When the engines started and the countdown began, the Saturn 5 rocket slowly rose from the launch pad and then accelerated gradually to the clear skies of Florida. "I had the impression of swinging at the head of a needle and the sound was so loud that we felt under the control of a huge force that guided us into the I did not have the impression of controlling anything, "Burman said.

"Right now, you are breathing very hard and it's almost impossible to move, the eyeball is flattened and the vision is gradually narrowing so that there is no peripheral vision," he recalls. .

After half-past eight, they started running the engine from the third stage of the rocket towards the Moon. Two days later, they reached 402,000 km. At 8:55 on Christmas Eve, Bormann performed the most important step which turns on the engine of the Apollo service unit to propel the spacecraft into the orbit of the moon.

"It took about four minutes to run the engine to slow the launch enough to reach the moon's orbit," Bormann recalls, "after walking about three-quarters, we looked down and the moon was below us. "

The crew of the Apollo 8 mission was the first human crew to see with their own eyes this distant side of the moon (the invisible side impossible to see from Earth).

"I do not think that all the books I've studied in my life can qualify me to live on the moon in its rugged nature, the surface of the moon is so incredible that I've seen its surface filled holes, volcanoes and lava remains, "Burman said.

The crew was surprised by the sight of the moon, but 75 hours and 48 minutes after the start of the mission, Andras emerged from the blue moon above the horizon, searching everywhere for a colorful film to capture the show .

"The contrast between the gloomy moon and the bright blue planet was like a tentacle, and we observed that the planet is the only colored object in the entire universe," says Bormann. "You can see clouds and white continents with their brownish brown color.

Suddenly, the mission went from a serious test of technological engineering and the courage of astronauts to a spiritual experience that sparked the feelings of the mission staff. While the image of the Earth was only released after the return of the Apollo 8 crew, the crew prepared another gift for the locals of the planet to celebrate the glorious Christmas of 1968.

"Prior to the start of the mission, NASA's public relations officer had told Burma that they were expecting TV shows aired from lunar orbit on Christmas Eve reach about a billion people, or about a quarter of the world's population, more than any other human voice in history.And tell him to prepare a suitable word for the public. "

"If the Soviets had been in our place, we would have talked about Lenin and Stalin, but we were told to choose an appropriate word," says Bormann.

But preparing this "right word" was not easy. "We three have been trying to help our women think of something appropriate to listen to," Burman said.

"As far as I know, Leighton spent all night writing words on paper and immediately crumpled them and thrown them on the ground.When his wife, who had already been involved with him, saw him, he and his wife, The ranks of French resistance in the Second World War, I suggested to start from the beginning. "

When the shooting started, the shuttle approached the sunrise on the moon on Christmas Eve (US time) and the mission crew began reading Genesis alternately, starting with Anders: " At first … ", concluded Burman:" We wish Good night, good luck, happy new year and God bless you, all men on this wonderful planet. "

"We were convinced that this was the most appropriate word to express the horror that gripped me, at least alone, in the extent of our small size for the universe," says Burman. "It is impossible for this universe to be so large and so precise on the organizational level." Divine intervention.

However, the mission is not over yet. On Christmas Day, Burman resumed the engine to leave the moon. "We started the engine to propel the vehicle into Earth orbit while we were on the other side of the moon.If the launch failed, we would still wander around the moon," he said.

The mission observation and ground control center did not send Christmas gifts to the crew on board. It was a turkey-based meal covered with a thick brown sauce and wrapped in glossy, non-flammable gift wrap.

"The chief of the crew," said Burman, "slipped three small, powerful doses of brandy into his luggage, but we did not drink them." I was afraid of bear the consequences of an error without knowing it. "

On December 27, the crew returned to Earth to land near the target in the Pacific Ocean. It was the perfect end of a successful mission, which proved that space travel to the moon would bear fruit.

"The Apollo 8 mission has not only achieved historical scientific and technical achievements, but has also broadened the horizons of the human experience and has influenced our perception of the Earth and the place of man in the world. 39, universe, "said Moir Harmony.

Colorman Bormann, who still retains the spirit of the Cold War fighter despite his 90th birthday, believes that the real success of his last mission was America's progress against the Soviet Union in the race for the moon .

"After the Apollo 11 mission (during the first human landing on the moon), I no longer cared about the Apollo program.From the beginning, I participated in the program which consisted of taking part in one of the Cold War battles, "said Burman. "I have no secrets for not worrying about the legacy of the Apollo 8 mission." We won. "

You can read the original article on BBC Future

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