Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo space program that was launched. Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to travel beyond Earth orbit and into an orbit around the Moon. It was also the first manned launch of the Saturn V rocket.

Mission parameters

• CSM Mass: 63,531 lb (28,817 kg)

Earth parking orbit

• Perigee: 112.8 mi (181.5 km)
• Apogee: 118.9 mi (191.3 km)
• Inclination: 32.51°
• Period: 88.17 min

Lunar orbit

• Perilune: 69.5 mi (111.9 km)
• Apolune: 193.3 mi (311.1 km)
• Inclination: 12°
• Period: 128.7 min

Translunar injection burn

• December 21, 1968, 15:41:38 UTC

The Saturn V, S-IVB third stage, was fired for a second time. It burned for a total of 318 seconds. Apollo 8 was propelled from an Earth parking orbit velocity of 25,567 ft/s (7793 m/s) to a translunar trajectory velocity of 35,505 ft/s (10,822 m/s).

Related Topics:
S-IVB - Earth - Parking orbit - Trajectory - Velocity

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