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McDivitt later said that the engine had come on abruptly, but with the tremendous mass, acceleration was very slow – it took the whole 5 seconds to add 11 meters per second to the speed.
Example of the CM’s docking probe being removed from the inside to allow access to the LM through the tunnel
Probe and drogue operations
Schweickart and McDivitt inside the LM
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The successful Apollo 7 flight cleared the way for a US moon landing in 1969. Still a lot of flight and ground testing remained and there would probably be surprises. The greatest concern was Nasa had to complete three virtually flawless missions and achieve every major test objective before a lunar landing could be attempted. The odds seemed to be stack against NASA.
Apollo 8 Crew
Jim Lovell (Shaky)
The Lovell family watch launch of Apollo 8
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Perhaps the most significant point about the lunar-orbit flight proposed for Apollo 8 was that the command and service modules would fly the same route to the moon as would be used for the actual lunar landing.
General Samuel C. Phillips. Director of Apollo Manned Lunar Landing program
Dr. Wernher von Braun. The Rocket Man.
George Mueller Assoc. Admin. for NASA Office of Manned Space Flight
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An ‘A’ type mission would be flown with a Saturn V and be used to test the Launch vehicle, spacecraft, and a high velocity lunar return. Nasa cover the ‘A’ mission with Apollo 4 & 6.
A ‘B’ type mission would be flow with a Saturn IB and test the lunar module development, and propulsion, and launch vehicle staging. This was accomplished with Apollo 5.
A ‘C’ type mission would be flown with a Saturn IB and test the command and service module and evaluate the crew performance in low earth orbit. This was accomplished with Apollo 7…
Owen Maynard’s Seven Step Plan to land on the Moon
Owen Maynard, Chief of LEM engineering office
George Low, Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office
