Science & Tech · Space · 8 hrs ago
Apollo 7 launches as the first crewed Apollo mission
Apollo 7 launched on Oct.
11, 1968, carrying NASA astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham into orbit.
It was the first Apollo mission to send a crew into space.
The flight tested whether the spacecraft was safe and ready after a fire during an Apollo launch rehearsal killed three astronauts in January 1967.
The crew spent 11 days in space, testing spacecraft systems and procedures.
NASA judged the mission a success, despite crew disagreements and health problems.
Its results helped prepare NASA for the first Moon landing in July 1969.
Apollo 7 launched on Oct. 11, 1968, carrying the first crew of the Apollo program into space.
The crew were NASA astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham.
The mission tested whether the Apollo spacecraft and its safety fixes were ready for crewed spaceflight.
It followed a 1967 launch-rehearsal fire that killed three astronauts.
NASA deemed Apollo 7 a 101% success, helping set up the first lunar landing in July 1969.
- Who
- NASA astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham.
- What
- Apollo 7 launched as the first crewed Apollo mission and tested the spacecraft.
- When
- Oct. 11, 1968.
- Where
- Into space and orbit. The sources do not state a launch location.
- Why
- NASA needed to verify that the spacecraft and its safety fixes worked before later crewed missions.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
We launched on the longest and most ambitious engineering test flight in history, testing the spacecraft systems, verifying the operating procedures, checking out the worldwide tracking network, and that's not to mention testing our crew.
All of us in the flights that followed were dependent on the Apollo 7 crew doing their job.
An Apollo 1 fire during a launch rehearsal killed three astronauts.
Apollo 7 launched with three astronauts aboard for an 11-day mission.
The first lunar landing took place, after Apollo 7 helped set it up.
- Launch date
- Oct. 11, 1968
- Crew
- Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham
- Mission duration
- 11 days
- NASA's assessment
- 101% success
- First lunar landing
- July 1969
Sources
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