Apollo 8 Was Only, Second and Third Flight for Anders, Borman and Lovell

Summary: Lunar-orbiting mission Apollo 8 was the only, second and third flight for Anders, Borman and Lovell, respectively.

Apollo 8 astronauts (left to right) Command Module Pilot (CMP) James Lovell Jr., Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders and Commander Frank Borman stand beside the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Apollo Mission Simulator, Nov. 13, 1968; NASA ID S68-50265: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight

First crewed, lunar-orbiting mission Apollo 8 was the only, second and third flight for Anders, Borman and Lovell, respectively, and marked the second spaceflight mission shared by Borman and Lovell.

The three astronauts launched from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Merritt Island Saturday, Dec. 21, 1968. The Apollo 8 spacecraft successfully completed the mission’s objective of 10 lunar orbits. The mission’s command module splashed down Friday, Dec. 27, in the North Pacific Ocean. Mission duration was 6 days 3 hours 0 minutes 42 seconds.

Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928) led Apollo 8 as the prime crew’s Commander. James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) flew as the Command Module Pilot (CMP). William Alison Anders (born Oct. 17, 1933) was designated as Lunar Module Pilot (LMP), even though Apollo 8 did not carry a lunar module (LM). Anders served as the mission’s primary photographer.

Air Force test pilot Frank Borman entered NASA via Astronaut Group 2, also known as the New Nine or the Next Nine. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1962, NASA publicly introduced the nine selectees, who included Navy pilot James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928), at the University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall.

The first spaceflight for both Borman and Lovell occurred during the Gemini VII (Gemini 7) mission. Gemini 7 (Dec. 4-Dec. 18, 1965) flew as the Gemini spaceflight program’s fourth crewed flight.

In an interview April 13, 1999, for the Johnson Space Center’s Oral History Project, Borman explained his decision to make Apollo 8 his second and last spaceflight. He had joined NASA “. . . to participate in the Apollo Program, the lunar program, and hopefully beat the Russians. I never looked at it for any individual goals. I never wanted to be the first person on the Moon . . .” (page 12-6).

Assignment as Command Pilot for Gemini XII (Gemini 12) occasioned James Lovell’s second spaceflight. The 10th and final crewed Gemini flight started Friday, Nov. 11, 1966, and ended Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Lovell’s fourth and last spaceflight was via Apollo 13, the “lost moon” mission. A cryogenic oxygen tank explosion had compelled returning to Earth without a lunar landing.

In his NASA Oral History interview May 25, 1999, Lovell enthusiastically recalled Apollo 8. “We saw the far side of the Moon, which no had ever seen, you know, before. Live,” Lovell noted. “That was the high point of my career. And I can agree with a lot of people at NASA. I think that was the high point of NASA’s career, too” (pages 12-66, 12-67).

Air Force fighter pilot William Anders joined NASA as one of 14 selectees in Astronaut Group 3. NASA publicly announced The Fourteen Friday, Oct. 18, 1963, at Houston’s Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), known since Monday, Feb. 19, 1973, as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Participation in the Apollo 8 mission garnered for Anders his only spaceflight. Prior to Apollo 8, he had been designated as Pilot for the backup crew of the Gemini XI (Gemini 11) mission Gemini 11 (Sept. 12-Sept. 15, 1966).

After Apollo 8, Anders was assigned as Command Module Pilot in the backup crew for lunar-landing mission Apollo 11 (July 16-July 24, 1969). His participation in the backup crew reunited him with Lovell, who was designated as Commander of the backup crew.

In his NASA Oral History interview Oct. 8, 1997, Anders described his NASA career as channeling him away from his interests in lunar landing and geology and toward command module expertise. He explained: “. . . and the hook there was that the more expert I became in the Command Module, the more I became welded to the Command Module [and] Command Module guys . . . don’t land.” As for his only spaceflight, Anders observed: “So I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to participate on man’s first flight away from [our] own planet but I would have traded the last lunar landing for the first flight away from the planet” (page 12-10).

The takeaways for Apollo 8 as only, second and third flight for Anders, Borman and Lovell are that Anders only flew via Apollo 8, that Borman made both his spaceflights with Lovell and that Lovell’s later command of Apollo 13 marked his fourth and last spaceflight.

Apollo 8 astronauts (left to right) Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot (CMP) James Lovell Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders stand in foreground as Apollo space vehicle (Spacecraft 103/Saturn 503) leaves Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for transport to Launch Complex 39, Pad A: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Apollo 8 astronauts (left to right) Command Module Pilot (CMP) James Lovell Jr., Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders and Commander Frank Borman stand beside the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Apollo Mission Simulator, Nov. 13, 1968; NASA ID S68-50265: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo8/html/s68-50265.html

Apollo 8 astronauts (left to right) Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot (CMP) James Lovell Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders stand in foreground as Apollo space vehicle (Spacecraft 103/Saturn 503) leaves Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for transport to Launch Complex 39, Pad A: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo8/html/s68-49397.html; via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/9351677598; via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Apollo_8_prime_crew_stands_in_foreground_as_the_Apollo_space_vehicle.jpg

For further information:

Borman, Frank; and Robert J. Serling. Countdown: An Autobiography. New York NY: Silver Arrow, 1988.

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 8: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 1971.

Harwood, Catherine. “Frank Borman Oral History Interviews.” NASA History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. April 13, 1999.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BormanF/bormanff.htm

Kluger, Jeffrey. Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon. New York NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Lovell, Jim; and Jeffrey Kluger. Apollo 13. First Mariner Books edition. Boston MA; New York NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Lovell, Jim; and Jeffrey Kluger. Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “First Crewed Lunar Orbiting Mission Apollo 8 Launched Dec. 21, 1968.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/first-crewed-lunar-orbiting-mission.html

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Orloff, Richard W. “Apollo 8 The Second Mission: Testing the CSM in Lunar Orbit.” Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference: 31-50. NASA History Series. NASA SP 4029. Washington DC: NASA Headquarters Office of Policy and Plans, 2000.
Available via NASA History @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029.pdf

Rollins, Paul. “William A. Anders Oral History Interviews.” NASA History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Oct. 8, 1997.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/AndersWA/anderswa.htm

Stone, Ron. “James A. Lovell Oral History Interviews.” NASA History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. May 25, 1999.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/LovellJA/lovellja.htm

Williams, David R.; and E. (Edwin) Bell II, cur. “Apollo 8.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center > NMC (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive Master Catalog) > Spacecraft. Version 5.1.2.
Available @ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-043A