NASA’s historic Apollo 7 mission splashed down 50 years ago today
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}50 years ago today, NASA’s historic Apollo 7 mission splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after spending almost 11 days in space.
Apollo 7 was the first crewed Apollo mission in space and helped lay the foundations for subsequent lunar missions. Astronauts Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham lifted off atop a Saturn 1B rocket from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 34 on Oct. 11, 1968.
After completing a wide array of tests in orbit, the astronauts splashed down in their Command Module southeast of Bermuda on Oct. 22, 1968.
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“All mission objectives were accomplished, and with a duration of nearly 11 days, the flight proved the ability of the spacecraft and crew to complete an 8-day lunar landing mission,” explains NASA, on its website. “All spacecraft systems performed essentially as expected, including the all-important Space Propulsion System (SPS) engine, critical on future missions to place crews into and return them from lunar orbit.”
The Apollo 7 crew is welcomed aboard the USS Essex, the prime recovery ship for the mission, on Oct. 22, 1968. Left to right, are astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr., commander; Donn F. Eisele, command module pilot; and, Walter Cunningham, lunar module pilot. (NASA)
Apollo 7 also marked the first 3-person crewed U.S. spaceflight and the first live TV broadcast from an American spacecraft.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The mission came just 18 months after astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White II and Roger Chaffee tragically lost their lives in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire.
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Apollo 7 was the first American space mission to use a “mixed cabin atmosphere” consisting of 65 percent oxygen and 35 percent nitrogen. “All previous flights had used 100 percent oxygen, a procedure changed as a result of recommendations made by the Apollo 1 fire investigation board,” explained NASA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Apollo 7 launches on Oct. 11, 1968. (NASA)
“The success of Apollo 7 gave the nation confidence to be able to meet President Kennedy’s commitment of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade,” adds NASA.
Less than a year later, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.
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