Apollo 8 Proved Manned Space Flight Network’s Lunar Reach

Summary: Apollo 8 proved the Manned Space Flight Network’s lunar reach as the mission’s spacecraft maintained communications to the moon and back.

1967 photograph of the 85-foot Apollo Antenna in Goldstone, California; built in 1967, Goldstone was one of three 85-foot antenna sites deployed for Apollo 8; identified as Deep Space Station 16 (DSS-16) in the Deep Space Network (DSN), the "Apollo Antenna" is "currently in an extended downtime configuration," according to NASA's image article Dec. 19, 2013; NASA ID G-67-3491: Public Domain, via NASA

Apollo 8 proved the Manned Space Flight Network’s lunar reach as Apollo Command-Service Module (CSM) 103 maintained communications during the mission’s flight to the moon, which included 10 lunar orbits, and return to Earth’s Pacific Ocean.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Apollo 8 Press Kit, released Sunday, Dec. 15, 1968, announced: “As Apollo 8 leaves Earth orbit and starts translunar coast, the Manned Space Flight Network for the first time will be called upon to track spacecraft position and to relay two-way communications, television and telemetry in a manned spaceflight to lunar distance” (page 5).

The Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) linked flight controllers in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at Houston’s Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC; known since 1972 as Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center JSC) with the Apollo 8 spacecraft. NASA’s Apollo 8 Press Kit acknowledged the Mission Control Center as “the focal point for all Apollo flight control activities” (page 65).

The Manned Space Flight Network was known as the Apollo Network during its operations for the Apollo human spaceflight program (1963-1972). The Manned Space Flight Network became operational June 1, 1961, for Project Mercury. “The network was ready in ample time for the first manned orbital shot, MA-6, which was launched on February 20, 1962,” American physicist and writer William Roger Corliss (Aug. 28, 1926-July 8, 2011) declared in his history of NASA’s tracking and data acquisition networks, Histories of the Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), and the NASA Communications Network (NASCOM), published by NASA in June 1974 (page 130).

Project Apollo inherited the network from the NASA’s first human spaceflight program, Project Mercury (1958-1965), and its successor, Project Gemini (1961-1966), NASA’s second human spaceflight program. American physicist and writer William Roger Corliss (Aug. 28, 1926-July 8, 2011) noted the importance of the Apollo Network’s retention of the MSFN radars, which had provided Earth-orbital support for Mercury and Gemini flights. He explained: “They were well placed to follow the Apollo capsule during the vital parking orbits (similar to the Mercury and Gemini orbits) while the spacecraft was being checked out prior to its insertion in a lunar trajectory” (page 166). Corliss observed: “The mission and national economy both dictated that the Apollo Network would have to be built around the Gemini Network radar station core. Thus the Apollo Network would not be built from scratch.”

The Manned Space Flight Network for Apollo 8 comprised 14 ground stations. Eleven of the ground stations were outfitted as 30-foot antenna sites. They were located in Antigua (ANG); Ascension Island (ACN); Coopers Island, Bermuda (BDA); Canary Island (CYI); Carnarvon (CRO), Western Australia; Grand Bahama Island (GM); Guam (GWM); Guaymas (GYM), southwestern Sonora State, northwestern Mexico; Kauai, Hawaii (HAW); Merritt Island (MIL), Florida; and Corpus Christi (TEX), Texas. The Hawaii and Corpus Christi sites served as backups.

Three of the 14 ground stations qualified as 85-foot antenna sites. They were located at Canberra (CNB), Australia; Goldstone (GDS), California; and Madrid (MAD), Spain. The tracking function passed from the 30-foot diameter antenna sites to the 85-foot antenna sites when the spacecraft’s altitude reached 10,000 miles.

The Apollo 8 Press Kit explained the placement of the 85-foot antennas at “. . . 120-degree intervals around Earth so at least one antenna has the Moon in view at all times. As the Earth revolves from west to east, one station hands over control to the next station as it moves into view of the spacecraft. In this way, a continuous data and communication flow is maintained” (page 67).

The Manned Space Flight Network for Apollo 8 also utilized four instrumented ships that operated as coverage in areas outside the range of the ground stations. The Atlantic Ocean ship, Vanguard was stationed approximately 1,000 miles southeast of Bermuda, at 25 degrees north latitude, 49 degrees west longitude. In the western Pacific Ocean, Redstone was positioned north of Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville Island, at 2.5 degrees north, 155.5 degrees east. Mercury was distanced about 1,500 miles northeast of Redstone, at 7.5 degrees north, 181.5 degrees east. Huntsville was deployed near Wake Island, at 21.0 degrees north, 169.0 degrees east.

The Manned Space Flight Network for Apollo 8 also relied on six Apollo/Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA). The EC-135-A jet aircrafts, which were a military version of the Boeing 707, initially flew out of Darwin, Perth and Townsville, Australia; Guam; Hawaii; and the Philippines. As gap fillers for ground and ship station coverage, the ARIA flew from their Pacific air bases to points under the spacecraft’s orbital track during the translunar injection (TLI) interval of removal from Earth’s orbit onto a lunar trajectory.

NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission Report, released February 1969, noted: “The Mission Control Center and the Manned Space Flight Network were placed on mission status for Apollo 8 on December 12, 1968. The support provided by all elements of the Mission Control Center and the Manned Space Flight Network was excellent“ (page 9-3).

William Corliss acknowledged the significance of the Manned Space Flight Network’s sophisticated reach in his history of NASA’s communications networks (1974). “The MSFN in its Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo configurations has been an indispensable cornerstone for the successes of American manned ventures into space. It has been in effect the information lifeline between the astronauts and the Earthbound flight controllers and computers” (page 257).

The takeaway for Apollo 8’s proving the Manned Space Flight Network’s lunar reach is that the tracking and data acquisition system’s successful reach, beyond Earth to the Moon, represented a major achievement in human spaceflight.

Manned Space Flight Network during Apollo 8: Apollo 8 Press Kit, Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

1967 photograph of the 85-foot Apollo Antenna in Goldstone, California; built in 1967, Goldstone was one of three 85-foot antenna sites deployed for Apollo 8; identified as Deep Space Station 16 (DSS-16) in the Deep Space Network (DSN), the "Apollo Antenna" is "currently in an extended downtime configuration," according to NASA's image article Dec. 19, 2013; NASA ID G-67-3491: Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/networks/DSN50Gallery-06.html

Manned Space Flight Network during Apollo 8: Apollo 8 Press Kit, Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690003059.pdf

For further information:

Corliss, William R. “Chapter 3. Origin and Growth of the MSFN.” Histories of The Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), The Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), and The NASA Communications Network (NASCOM): 69-139. NASA CR-140390. June 1974.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750002909.pdf

Corliss, William R. “Chapter 5. Assignment Moon: The Apollo Network.” Histories of The Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), The Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), and The NASA Communications Network (NASCOM): 162-259. NASA CR-140390. June 1974.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750002909.pdf

Flanagan, F.M.; P.S. Goodwin; and N.A. Renzetti. Deep Space Network Support of the Manned Space Flight Network for Apollo, vol. I: 1962-1968. Technical Memorandum 33-452. Pasadena CA: California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, July 15, 1970.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710009001.pdf

Flanagan, F.M.; R.B. Hartley; and N.A. Renzetti. Deep Space Network Support of the Manned Space Flight Network for Apollo, vol. II: 1969-1970. Technical Memorandum 33-452. Pasadena CA: California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, May 1, 1971.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710015677.pdf

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

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

Marriner, Derdriu. "Apollo 8 Was Only, Second and Third Flight for Anders, Borman and Lovell." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/apollo-8-was-only-second-and-third.html

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

Mr. Gorsky. “Histórico catálogo de la estación espacial de Fresnedillas de la época de las misiones Apolo.” Mr. Gorsky. 06/12/2011.
Available @ https://mrgorsky.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/historico-catalogo-de-la-estacion-espacial-de-fresnedillas-de-la-epoca-de-las-misiones-apolo/

NASA Goddard @NASAGoddard. “1961: The Manned Space Flight Network control center was established at Goddard in July 1961 to provide communications support for astronauts on the Mercury and Apollo missions.” Twitter. Oct. 1, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASAGoddard/status/1046843793536897024

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 8 Mission Report. Prepared by Mission Evaluation Team. MSC-PA-R-69-1. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, February 1969.
Available via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap08fj/pdf/a08-missionreport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 8 Mission (AS-503) Post Launch Mission Operation Report No. 1. Prepared by Apollo Program Office-MAO. Report No. M-932-68-08. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Manned Space Flight, Feb. 10, 1969.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap08fj/pdf/a08-postlaunch-rep.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 8 Press Kit. Release no. 68-208. Dec. 15, 1968. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1969.
Available via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap08fj/pdf/a08-presskit.pdf
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/pdf/A08_PressKit.pdf
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690003059.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center. Apollo Madrid: Manned Space Flight Network Station. Greenbelt MD: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center, Jan. 15, 1969.
Available via NASA https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710009001.pdf

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

Williams, David R. “The Apollo Program (1963-1972).” NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) > Solar System Exploration > Planetary Science > The Moon > Missions to the Moon: Current and Past Missions. Last updated Sept. 16, 2013.
Available @ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html