Goodreads Review - "Apollo 8"

 

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Informative. Engaging. Inspiring.

“Round the moon and back…”

Apollo 8
Mission Type: Lunar Landing Preparation
Crew: Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr., William Anders
Launch: Dec. 21, 1968
Splashdown: Dec. 27, 1968

This is a very insightful book about how we made it to the Moon by the end of the 1960s. It provides valuable background on the early space program, including the experiences of the Mercury missions in low Earth orbit and the Gemini program, which astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were part of before the Apollo 8 mission. Each program pushed humanity farther from Earth, building toward that historic achievement.

This mission is also known for the iconic “Earthrise” photograph taken by William Anders.

We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the space program, and it’s exciting to think about what lies ahead.

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Here’s a bonus content for my review. It’s not much but as a veteran, I really loved this part.

During the first rendezvous flight where Gemini 7 and 6 (yes, it’s in that order because of when they lifted off) were orbiting around each other, there was a playful moment between the two crews. It’s an “inside joke” with the military involving the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy that dates back to 1972. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is awarded to each season’s winner of the US collegiate football series but it can only be awarded to one of the three military academies; Army, Navy, and Air Force. After Gemini 6 completed another pirouette around Gemini 7, the right-hand window of Gemini 6 was covered with a sign. Wally Schirra had smuggled aboard a piece of blue cardboard bearing bright white letters that read, BEAT ARMY. When one of the academies play another academy there’s a saying that is used that ’s become so popular. If you’re a fan of the Air Force, you would say “GO AIR FORCE, BEAT NAVY” or ARMY. Borman was Army. Lovell, Schirra, & Thomas Stafford were all Navy so he was outnumbered on this one.

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Quotes to remember from the book:

“But death was always a part of the piloting calculus, and this time would be no different.”

“Our rockets can fly from place to place, but only the mind of man can cross the new frontiers of space.” - Lyndon B. Johnson

“There was the ongoing problem of how a man preserves his last scrap of privacy—to say nothing of dignity—in a spacecraft with no proper toilet facilities. Urinating in space was not a problem, and the doctors, it turned out, had decided that they would need only occasional samples. This meant the men could usually relieve themselves into a tube and then vent it through a small port on the exterior of the spacecraft, where it would instantly burst into a shower of glittery crystals, a phenomenon Wally Schirra had dubbed the constellation Urion."

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Apollo 8 Astronaut and commander Frank Borman leads the way as he and James Lovell, Command Module (CM) pilot; and William Anders, Lunar Module (LM) Pilot head out to the launch pad for the historical first manned Apollo mission to travel to the lunar vicinity, and first manned mission launched via the Saturn V vehicle. Photo Credit: NASA

"Earthrise" photograph by William Anders

Apollo 8 Mission Patch