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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named two lunar craters to honour NASA’s Apollo 8 spacecraft, 50 years after the historic voyage carried three astronauts into orbit around the moon for the first time in 1968.
Lunar craters named after Apollo 8 spacecraft
Two craters on the moon have been named “8 Homeward” and “Anders’ Earthrise”.
Both of these craters are visible in the iconic earth rise colour photograph image shot by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, the IAU said in a statement on Friday.
Picture by Apollo
The image depicts the moment that our shiny blue Earth came back into view as the spacecraft emerged out of the dark from behind the grey and barren Moon.
“This is arguably the most famous picture taken by Apollo 8. It became iconic and has been credited with starting the environmental movement,” the IAU said.
Since the Moon is tidally locked to the earth (it always has the same side facing the planet), the earth will never appear to rise above the surface to someone standing on the lunar far side.
Orbiting around the Moon, however, gave the Apollo 8 astronauts this stunning view.
Before ‘a giant leap for mankind’
Anders, mission commander Frank Borman and James Lovell became the first humans to reach the moon after they blasted off atop a giant Saturn 5 rocket on December 21, 1968, and braked into orbit around the Moon that Christmas Eve.
After 10 orbits, broadcasting images back to the Earth and giving live television transmissions, the crew returned to the Earth and landed onto the Pacific Ocean.
Six-and-a-half months later, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon’s surface, taking ‘a giant leap for mankind’.
The Apollo 8 craters were named by the IAU’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, the authority responsible for naming planetary features across the solar system.
About the spacecraft and launch vehicle
The space vehicle was launched at 7:51:00 a.m. EST on December 21, 1968, and was inserted into a 103 by 98 nautical mile parking orbit. The launch vehicle was a three-stage Saturn V and the spacecraft was a standard block II command and service module configuration.
A lunar module test article was mounted in the spacecraft/launch vehicle adapter for mass loading purposes.
The Apollo 8 spacecraft was similar in configuration to the Apollo 7 spacecraft. The most significant change was the replacement of the forward pressure and ablative hatches with the combined forward hatch, which was required for an intravehicle transfer to the lunar module on later missions. Also, to provide more free space for activity, foldable crew couches were installed.
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