Flight of Apollo 7

approach during a rainstorm on the morning of October 22nd 1968 in the Atlantic Ocean the United States completed one of its most remarkably successful tests yet of man and machine in space but this was only the ending Rec really sitting very comfortably inside the net getting a ride it was on a clear morning almost 11 days earlier at the Kennedy Space Center's Launchpad 34 in Florida that we witnessed the beginning of the first man mission in the United States Apollo program to land astronauts on the moon the purpose of the flight of Apollo 7 could be stated very simply prove that the spacecraft command and service modules would function properly in space long enough to carry men to the moon and back accomplishing this was considerably less simple it meant showing that a brand new spacecraft far more complicated than its predecessors would operate so well it could be trusted to take men well Beyond near Earth orbit the astronauts were spacecraft Commander Walter shirah and Pilots Don Eisley and Walter Cunningham the Kennedy Space Center had spent long days in preparation and checkout working toward a launch time which had been set for months it was not by chance that Apollo 7 lifted off only 2 and 3/4 minutes after the appointed moment 5 [Music] IGN [Music] the Marshall space flight center had spent years directing development and testing of the Saturn 1B launch vehicle and it was not by chance that Apollo 7 was placed almost exactly on its planned trajectory into orbit about the earth trust is okay very early in the flight the general pattern of go for Apollo 7 was established in a conversation between the spacecraft and Mission Control at the man spacecraft Center in Houston Texas right on the old button very good FL booster go we appear we may be slightly marginal on locks stand by cut off take to cut off beautiful go looks good 25 53 H isus balls One Cop we have you go for here go for orbit Apollo 7 was also go for an exhaustive series of tests of its worthiness in space one of the first things which had to be learned was whether the astronauts could control the spacecraft combined with the s4b Saturn stage a very similar thing would have to be done during the early phases of a lunar Mission the answer was not long incoming three two one mark S4 test complete beautiful that was outstanding realing next the spacecraft and s4b Stage were separated the question now was whether the astronauts could turn their spacecraft around and control it to the degree required for future physical link ups with equipment in space for this too would have to be done in the lunar flight and again the answer was yes little flashes like JY something that will not be seen in the lunar flight or in any other forthcoming Apollo Mission were the panels at the top of the s4b stage they will simply be jettison in the future but they drew comment in Apollo 7 and the SL panel at the top left and bottom I opened uh and I would test to be about a 45° angle and the SLO panel on the right is just open though maybe uh 30° at the Roger looks like you're looking at a for angry alligator Apollo 7 escorted its spent s4b stage through space for perhaps 30 minutes then [Applause] departed yes it's absolutely beautiful here the following day Apollo 7 burned its spacecraft propulsion system for the first two times in the mission and returned to its four jawed alligator which was now angrier than ever Apollo 7 Houston uh how close are you now we close to about uh about 70 ft it's tumbling rather wildly so weci to stay away from [Applause] it okay separ in this maneuver Apollo 7 had accomplished the first Rendevous of the program and in so doing had proven capable of meeting still another requirement for lunar flight 618 plus [Applause] 221 then as we were to see in some of the most dramatic film ever return from space the crew would settle down to a weightless life in a spacecraft with four times more room than gemin AC there would be a host of other tests under a host of other conditions the equipment and systems required to sustain men's lives to guide and control and Propel the spaceship to provide electric power to communicate with those on Earth would time and again prove their metal the propulsion system for example was burned eight times and it behaved perfectly every time off down and G [Applause] Auto the crew worked with a telescope and a seant taking landmark and star sightings for navigation as will be required for lunar flight and they discovered on occasion that water particles which had been dumped overboard could be confused with stars care will have to be taken to avoid this confusion on future flights all in all though problems were minor and and generally were readily overcome or solved the spacecraft almost seemed to grow stronger as the days went [Applause] by but Apollo 7 was as much a test of man as of machine and human errors were not taken lightly power s uh Houston we acknowledge the eror on the ground here okay I the ground get to work to The Sleep the error had led to an interruption of a sleep period for the astronauts who were understandably irritated after days of hard work it was imperative that this situation be remedied Houston understand there were also those problems to which man is susceptible but cannot control controll like the common cold very good I got a couple small items for you um while took coule AC fed well took one AC fed only he feel fine he just got a little stuffy headphone and uh I put some nose grease in mind cuz my nostrils are a little dry besid it smells good as the cold spread to all three astronauts doctors Fe that there might be discomfort even pain with eard drums as pressure increased during re-entry the astronauts were able to cope with the problem however by taking decongestants and holding their noses and blowing to equalize re-entry pressures always before we've had to be content with merely listening to our astronauts during their flights in Apollo 7 through the medium of Television we could actually see them in space for the first time and become better acquainted with weightless life aboard a spacecraft you're picking up I can read it now just a minute it says from that uh lovely Apollo something you guys should follow room high top everything high at top everything looks good I can see Wally H now and Don has a smile on his face and there's W okay what's the next one a little closer Wally says keep those cards coming [Applause] card and letter coming coming in folks it's loud and clear Roger good morning to everyone in television land you're looking at the right hand portion of the main display console in the upper left hand portion of your view you would see the instruments that has to do with the cryogenics that are used to power the fuel cells and provide breathing oxygen in the spacecraft as the flight of Apollo 7 proceeded day by day confidence in men and Equipment grew the astronauts became accustomed to their home High a top everything they had a chance to evaluated as a place to live and work in space set set that all there was a chance to photographic glattus which red across Florida and headed out into the Atlantic there was a chance to photograph areas of the earth not previously pictured from space for example the coast of Chile and the Andes mountain [Applause] range the crew could evaluate such things as the importance of exercising the quality of sleeping Arrangements the palatability of food seemingly small items but things of essential importance in a lunar Mission they even recorded the preparation of a drink for a meal we have come at Australia by the time Apollo 7 entered its 11th day in space it had exceeded the time required for a flight to the moon and back it was also well on its way to accomplishing all planned objectives and more Apollo 7 was called 101% successful on the morning of October 22nd 1968 Apollo 7 began its final Revolution the 163rd at approximately 259 hours and 39 minutes after liftoff the spacecraft propulsion system was burned for the final time and Apollo 7 headed home to Earth from Motion Picture film recorded during an earlier unmanned Apollo Mission we get some idea what the trip back through the atmosphere was like in less than an hour after touchdown in the Atlantic Ocean the flight crew emerged from helicopters which had brought them to the recovery ship the carrier USS [Music] S6 and the next Mand Apollo flight can be undertaken with confidence that our brand new spacecraft is as Commander Walter shirah reported a magnificent flying machine