EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
On October 11, 1968, NASA launched the Apollo 7 mission by launching the Apollo CSM-101 spacecraft into orbit. It was the first manned lunar mission of the Apollo program and a key step toward the conquest of the Moon. The program succeeded in landing a man on the Moon eight months later with the Apollo 11 mission.
The crew of Apollo 7 was three. The mission commander was the experienced Walter Schirra, one of the first seven astronauts selected by the US space program. By the time he took command, Schirra had already completed two successful space flights. Apollo 7 was the final mission of his astronaut career.
The mission's systems engineer was military pilot and Korean War veteran Walter Cunningham. Having flown over 50 night missions during the war, Cunningham was selected as an astronaut for NASA's Third Group, where he trained alongside Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. After his NASA career ended, he successfully pursued entrepreneurship.
The mission's navigator was military pilot Don Eisley. Eisley spent his military career flying experimental prototypes for the United States Air Force, then was selected as an astronaut by NASA's Third Group along with Cunningham.
The three Americans' flight lasted 10 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes and 3 seconds, during which time their space module orbited the Earth 163 times. Their mission ended with a successful landing in the Atlantic Ocean on October 22, 1968.
A curious moment of the mission is the dispute between Commander Schirra and the NASA command center regarding the transmission of unprecedented historical live television footage from space. The astronaut expresses his concerns that the chosen time of the broadcast would interfere with the work of his colleagues, and the command center reminds him of the commitment they have made to the media. In the end, Schirra unilaterally decides to delay the live broadcast. This action of his is considered one of the first "mutinies" of a space crew in history.
" Kennedy had made a huge mess in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs. He was looking to do something that would look good. The Apollo program to get to the moon was an impressive goal."
- Walter Schirra, Apollo 7 commander
