I was there to participate in the Cold War battle with the Soviets.\u00a0I was confident that Apollo 8 would succeed, and that the Soviets were beat.\u00a0There was no way on God\u2019s green Earth that I was going to go back to the moon to pick up rocks.<\/p>\n
Jim (Lovell) and Bill (Anders) were different sorts. Bill was interested in geology and Jim had always been interested in space and rockets.\u00a0I was more interested in airplanes than spacecraft.<\/p>\n
How do you think Apollo 8 will be remembered?<\/h3>\n
It will probably be remembered as much for Bill\u2019s picture as anything because it shows the fragility of our Earth, the beauty of the Earth, and just how so insignificantly small we are in the Universe.<\/p>\n
It was the beginning of the realization that we need to take care of it.<\/p>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2018\/12\/Earthrise-928d327.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C350"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Why was Apollo 8 upgraded from a test mission in low Earth orbit to a moon mission?<\/h3>\n
When I was told that Apollo 8 was going to go to the moon the first thing they mentioned was that the CIA has instructed NASA that the Russians would send a man around the moon by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
That had a lot to do with us going in December.\u00a0There never would have been an American lunar program without competition with the Soviets.<\/p>\n
Was Apollo 8 a risky mission? The Saturn V<\/a> rocket had only been tested twice before, and there had been problems.<\/h3>\nIt was a risk, but every flight was a risk.\u00a0When you get up in the morning you take a risk! It was a worthwhile risk for the gains that we got.<\/p>\n
There was pressure to meet the goals, but during my eight years at NASA I never once saw safety compromised in the interests of schedules.<\/p>\n
When they [the rocket team] said they were ready, I believed them \u2013 they were really confident people.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve said that Apollo 8 worked perfectly, but didn\u2019t you have a problem with the navigation system on the way home?<\/h3>\n
Technically it wasn\u2019t difficult at all because the machinery worked perfectly.\u00a0On the way back we did have a problem, not with the navigation system, it was a problem with Lovell \u2013 he screwed-up and hit the wrong button!<\/p>\n
It put the spacecraft back in the position it was at launch. It tumbled our gyros and he had to reset them using the stars, just like the old shipmasters used to do.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m glad he did it because he was much better at it than I was, but we had all been to planetariums, so I was confident I could do it.<\/p>\n
We were very well versed in the sky and in the stars, but I didn\u2019t take up astronomy after.\u00a0I took up airplanes.<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Lunar module pilot Bill Anders, command module pilot Jim Lovell and commander Frank Borman during a training exercise<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nApollo 8 wasn\u2019t the first time you and Jim Lovell had been to space. What was the highlight of your Gemini 7 mission in 1965?<\/h3>\n
It was a long, gruelling human endurance flight \u2013 no-one had been in zero-G that long.\u00a0So the highlight was reentry!<\/p>\n
Some of the other missions were going to be much longer than Apollo 8, and there were certain circumstances where you would want to have at least the availability of 14 days.<\/p>\n
We spent two weeks together in a volume smaller than the front seat of a Volkswagen Beetle, and in a situation like you either end-up best friends or bitter enemies.\u00a0We came out friends. But I never asked for a particular crew mate.<\/p>\n
I never angled for a flight, I just took what was coming.<\/p>\n
Did you sleep much while you were in orbit around the moon?<\/h3>\n
We slept some, but not much.\u00a0Towards the end I had trouble getting Jim and Bill \u2013 particularly Bill \u2013 to get some sleep.\u00a0We were pretty rung-out.<\/p>\n
Not only the 20 hours around the Moon, but going to the Moon. It was a high adrenalin time.<\/p>\n
How many times did you see Earthrise while you orbited the moon?<\/h3>\n
We saw it more than twice, but during the first two orbits we never seven saw the Earth.\u00a0It was only coming over on the seventh or eighth orbit that we could see it, when the spacecraft was positioned so that we could see it.<\/p>\n
Most of the time we were looking at the lunar surface, looking for landing sites and geological features.\u00a0Bill was taking a lot pictures of the Moon, not one had been allocated for Earth.<\/p>\n
![\""The\"]( "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The crew of Apollo 8 reunited in 2017. From second left: Borman, Lovell, Anders<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nDo you have a copy of the Earthrise photo?<\/h3>\n
![\""Lunar\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2018\/12\/Apollo8-Crew-e58104a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C349"\" "\\"\"Lunar\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Apollo 8 wasn\u2019t the first time you and Jim Lovell had been to space. What was the highlight of your Gemini 7 mission in 1965?<\/h3>\n
It was a long, gruelling human endurance flight \u2013 no-one had been in zero-G that long.\u00a0So the highlight was reentry!<\/p>\n
Some of the other missions were going to be much longer than Apollo 8, and there were certain circumstances where you would want to have at least the availability of 14 days.<\/p>\n
We spent two weeks together in a volume smaller than the front seat of a Volkswagen Beetle, and in a situation like you either end-up best friends or bitter enemies.\u00a0We came out friends. But I never asked for a particular crew mate.<\/p>\n
I never angled for a flight, I just took what was coming.<\/p>\n
Did you sleep much while you were in orbit around the moon?<\/h3>\n
We slept some, but not much.\u00a0Towards the end I had trouble getting Jim and Bill \u2013 particularly Bill \u2013 to get some sleep.\u00a0We were pretty rung-out.<\/p>\n
Not only the 20 hours around the Moon, but going to the Moon. It was a high adrenalin time.<\/p>\n
How many times did you see Earthrise while you orbited the moon?<\/h3>\n
We saw it more than twice, but during the first two orbits we never seven saw the Earth.\u00a0It was only coming over on the seventh or eighth orbit that we could see it, when the spacecraft was positioned so that we could see it.<\/p>\n
Most of the time we were looking at the lunar surface, looking for landing sites and geological features.\u00a0Bill was taking a lot pictures of the Moon, not one had been allocated for Earth.<\/p>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2018\/12\/290398main_20081113_apollo8_8411_full-2ec1bef.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C398"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
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