005 Remembering Apollo 8

Bob Smith 00:00
What was the most powerful machine human beings have ever built? We’ll answer that question and explore coverage of the broadcast networks 50 years ago when human beings first left the atmosphere of Earth to visit the moon, coming up on the off ramp with Bob Smith. Hi, this is Bob Smith, welcome to the off ramp, a place to escape the fast lane steer clear of crazy and take the scenic route to Saturday. Today we’ve got some very interesting content for you. But before we start anything, our trivia question, what’s the most powerful machine mankind has ever built? What’s the most powerful machine mankind has ever built? It doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, not even any replicas exist. That’s because it was 36 stories tall. The size of a 36 story building almost 40 stories tall. It was the Saturn five rocket. Yeah, 363 feet tall the size of a 36 story building 1 million gallons of rocket fuel, which would be equivalent to a two kiloton nuclear explosion if it blew up. It was seven and a half million pounds total weight. And that was up ended on its vertical side and shot off to the moon for the first time in December 1968. Okay, that’s our trivia question. Now I’ve got a confession to make. I was a geeky kid, a tech geek of sorts. In the late 1960s, there was no internet, no cell phones, no YouTube or personal computers. Tech was limited to things like photography, microscopes, chemistry sets, ham radio, and audio recorders. Audio recording was my passion. I got into it when my mom and dad who bought me my very first tape recorder at JC Penney reel to reel for Christmas in 1964. Plop that under the Christmas tree, I had been inspired to ask for it by the replays of things I watched during the radio and TV coverage of President Kennedy’s assassination. It was the first time I could remember seeing something and then a few minutes later being shown it again, the ability to play and then replay things fascinated me. And I too wanted to interview people and put on broadcasts and play and replay shows and music. So from my very first days with a microphone, I began capturing current events from radio and TV broadcasts as a teenage hobby. And today, I have scores of hours of recordings of people like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Howard K. Smith and other famous newscasters breathlessly reporting on major events that occurred during my late teenage years in the late 1960s. Today, we’re going to focus on recordings I made during Christmas week, 50 years ago, because Christmas week, 50 years ago, 1968 was when human beings first left the gravitational pull of this planet to go visit something else truly going into outer space. Prior to this time, we had seen pictures of people hundreds of miles above the Earth, but not hundreds of thousands of miles. And that was the big gamble of Apollo eight to orbit the Earth and then spin out and head all the way to the moon, orbit it and then returned safely. The astronauts basically were told three to four months before the mission, here’s where we’re going. And prior to that they always had trained for over a year before a space mission. So this was highly compressed. And there was the reason for this. They were in the Cold War space race against the Soviets and Americans wanted to make sure they got to the moon first and got started getting to the moon first. The best time to do that because of celestial conditions was in December and as it turned out Christmas week was when it did occur. The astronauts not only broadcast live to the people of Earth from their spacecraft, they took the very first pictures of our planet. from that vantage point, an image of the Earth with the surface of the moon in the foreground, a famous picture called Earth rise, which later went on to us postage stamp. Let’s eavesdrop on history and listen to what you would have heard on your radio or television 50 years ago, Christmas week 1968 We begin four days before Christmas on December 21 1110.

05:05
Nine. We have ignition sequence start the engines or arms, or 310. We have come out 8am Eastern Standard Time.

05:27
Let’s clear the tower. There’s a rumble in our building.

05:32
That looks good. It looks like a good plank. It’s a beautiful takeoff so far

05:40
was building a shaking under a camera platform and shaking

05:48
What a beautiful flight man perhaps on the way to the moon and all continues to go well.

Bob Smith 06:03
Astronauts Borman, Lovell and Anders were racing faster than any human beings had ever gone 25,000 miles per hour. That was the speed as they were flying to escape gravity. Eventually, they slowed to just 2000 miles per hour as gravity gave up the spacecraft. A day later, we watched the first live pictures from outer space first pictures of anything outside of our atmosphere. Prior to that we’d seen men in space hundreds of miles above the Earth. But these photos and these video images came from hundreds of thousands of miles from the earth, outside the atmosphere away from the gravitational pull of the planet. Again, the sound of Walter Cronkite, this

06:50
is 20 watts of power, four and a half pound camera. We don’t have a picture yet. And we’re 140,000 miles away. The secret is that the power is in the receiver and the transmitter back on. The receiver receivers are three huge antennas at five feet across at Goldstone in California. Here’s the picture again inside

07:17
now. Okay, let’s try that. Again. That one’s good.

07:23
Finally, they’re having trouble with that long lens to get the view of the Earth from out there. 140,000 miles away.

07:32
Okay, wherever no joy

07:38
no joy is test pilot, no space talk for now.

07:44
They’ll know joy

07:46
or failure negative not getting what they want out of a mission or an extraordinary life cover on their backs.

Bob Smith 07:59
Something we’d all done at one point or another I left the lens cap on so the astronauts yes, they tried it to see if they had done that. But no, that wasn’t the problem. In that first broadcast, they couldn’t get the telephoto lens for the TV cameras to work showing Earth. So they showed pictures of themselves and then Frank Borman began describing the earth

08:23
as transmission that’s coming to you approximately halfway between the Moon and the Earth 31 hours 20 minutes into flight. We have about less than 40 hours left to go to the fresh air demonstrate water on zero I certainly wish we could show you the earth. It’s a beautiful, beautiful view with predominantly blue background and covers the white clouds particularly one very strong vortex up near the Terminator. Very, very good. We all feel fine. It was a very exciting ride on a big Saturday but it worked perfectly. And we’re looking forward now of course to the day after tomorrow and we’ll be just making them out. To get in close up with Jim Harbaugh ability command let everybody is already in the beard race. Kevin’s got quite a beard going already.

09:38
Some level the Navy captain, navigator on this flight is just a few days younger than Frank Borman, the commander. They’re both boards. goodbyes

Bob Smith 09:54
again, a reminder we couldn’t record any of the video transmissions at home in those days. There was no machinery to do that nobody had home video recordings, just the sound the audio and that’s what my teenage self was doing back then. The next morning was December 23. And we woke up to this report. The

10:14
morning the Apollo eight spacecraft and the astronauts Air Force Colonel Frank Borman Navy Captain James Lovell, and Air Force Major William Anders is now 11,700 nautical miles from the moon and traveling at 2944 miles per hour. The men and their machine are going through the preliminary checks prior to insertion into lunar orbit. During the next four to five hours, everything absolutely everything on board the spacecraft will be checked. And if anything isn’t working properly, they will not attempt to do it. These few hours are among the most critical on the flight. That’s why we are going to stay on the air all night and then follow the spacecraft as it mirrors and goes into orbit around the moon. As we said before, it is something man has dreamed of for centuries. And this morning, it looks like he’s going to make it in fact, the spacecraft trajectory was so accurate. The final mid course correction which was a little burst from the control rockets, performed four hours ago involve a change in velocity of only 1.4 miles per hour. At the time the spacecraft was traveling at better than 2000 miles an hour. As

Bob Smith 11:21
you heard him say we will be on the air all night. Now that’s common today. But that was unheard of back in those days. A TV news team broadcasting all night long, very unusual. Possibly the last time that had happened previously was five years earlier, in 1963, during the coverage of John F Kennedy’s assassination. That recording was from December 23. And later that evening on the CBS Evening News. We got a summary of the day that talks about not only the Apollo eight astronauts but another event that was going on at that time the USS Pueblo as well as report on the Vietnam War.

11:59
Correct from our newsroom in New York

12:02
in color. This is the CBS Sunday News with Harry reasoner.

12:07
United States has resorted to an interesting and novel device to free the Pueblo crew member as they were released at San Juan John the chief us negotiator their general Gilbert Woodward signed a document admitting the Pueblo was spying and intruding in North Korean waters. But at the same time, he verbally denied the contents calling it the usual garbage. In Washington tonight, Secretary of State Ross had this comment. The position of the United States government with regard to the Pueblo has been that the ship was not engaged in illegal activity. That there is no convincing evidence that the ship at any time intruded into the territorial waters claimed by North Korea and that we could not apologize for actions which we did not believe took place. This leaves the North Koreans free to exploit the signed document and the United States free to claim it was signed under duress. The men will now proceed to the South Korean capital of Seoul for preliminary medical examination. And back to San Diego the Pueblos home base for further debriefing the North Korean say they are confiscating the Pueblo itself. The three astronauts and Apollo eight are more than two thirds of the way to the moon. Details on their day further away from the Earth than any man before them from CBS News correspondent Walter Cronkite aside from above with celestial flew the flight of Apollo eight has been trouble free spacecraft now is more than halfway to the moon and Commander Frank Borman said to be recovering from a stomach virus that had him nausea and vomiting. The doctors now are worried that perhaps Jim Lovell and Bill Anders might come down with the same thing. They say they’ll have to see how healthy the crew is on Tuesday morning before they’ll decide to allow them to take Apollo eight into orbit around the moon. Earlier today. The first fantastically clear pictures were transmitted back for more than 140,000 miles in space. As a motor grime guide CBS News Space Center New York. South Vietnamese vice president when cow key and his wife are flying back to Saigon from the Paris Peace Talks. Before leaving Paris key appeared today on the CBS news broadcast Face the Nation and said his government must henceforth deal with the Vietcong as a reality, although it doesn’t recognize the Vietcong formally.

Bob Smith 14:26
So here it was Christmas Eve, and Apollo eight was about to fly behind the far side of the moon. It gave him a whole new dimension to the holiday. Flash forward to 50 years later, in 2019, China announced that it landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, and they were able to communicate with it by bouncing their signal off a satellite. But in 1968, no satellites were anywhere near the moon. They were only orbiting the Earth and when Apollo eight flew behind the far side of The Moon there was no communication for 30 minutes. To this day, it’s still the longest communications blackout in manned space history. And so far, the loneliest time in the history of spaceflight 30 minutes when the astronauts couldn’t speak with anyone on Earth, and 30 minutes when Earth didn’t know what was happening to the crew, were they safe? Were they still there with their command module successfully fire a big engine to slow that craft. So it could orbit the moon here on earth watching TV and listening to radio we shared in that tension on earth when after 30 minutes of silence NASA began calling out to the astronauts

15:53
Apollo eight Houston

16:00
Houston

16:08
Apollo eight

16:15
Apollo eight Houston.

Bob Smith 16:40
December 24 1968, Christmas Eve, we watched the moon as the astronauts describe what we were seeing

16:50
different things, each one of us. I think that each one of us each one is on impressions of whatever what he’s seen today. I know my own impression is that it’s a bad time or expanse of nothing, and most frontier like clouds and clouds. And it certainly would not be a very exciting place to live or work or what have you. My thoughts are very similar the event up here on firing can make you realize just what you have. Here is a Mandalay Bay I think the thing that impressed me the most were the letters sunrises and sunsets. These in particular bring out the stark nature of the terrain. And along shadows really bring out the relief that is here, and hard to see in this very bright surface that we’re going over right now. Arising here is very, very dark, the sky is black and the Earth or the moon rather, excuse me, is quite light. And the contrast between the sky and the Dark Wind. On

Bob Smith 18:25
December 24 1968, we watched the moon as the astronauts described what we were seeing. And they surprised us by reading from Genesis, ancient words that are in the holy books of three of the world’s great religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

18:46
Where now and we’re all people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo eight, as a message that we would like to send you. In the beginning, God created the heaven in the earth. And the earth was without form, and void. And darkness was upon the base of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light. There was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And in the morning was a brilliant day and got him into the midst of the water and let it divide the waters from the water. And God made the province and divided the waters which were the words which were about

19:55
and it was so

19:57
called the province Have you in the morning with a second day? That’s a lot isn’t it? I haven’t been gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so And God called and dry land Earth and the gathering together of the water. It’s called The Godfather and it was good. And from the crew of Apollo eight, we close with goodnight. A Merry Christmas. And God bless all of you. All of you on the good earth.

20:39
You are the crew of the Apollo eight, signing off after their last transmission of pictures from the moon.

Bob Smith 20:46
Next a newscast from Christmas morning 50 years ago, Christmas radio news.

20:51
This is Gary Shepard and CBS News New York. Astronauts Frank Borman James Lovell and William Anders are heading for home it is our after making history by orbiting the moon 10 times and their Apollo eight space capsule. The rocket firing that kicked them out of their lunar orbit and back toward Earth took place early this morning. And at last report, the Apollo eight capsule was less than 200,000 miles from Earth. If all goes well, splashdown will take place Friday morning in the Pacific following all the latest developments with keen interest or the astronauts family. As we hear in this report from CBS News correspondent Nelson Bevan at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. I’m so happy

21:33
my prayers have been answered. That was the way Mrs. James Lovell describes a series of near perfect events that is sending her husband and astronauts Frank Borman and William Anders earthward. From their trip around the moon. And the other astronauts wives are attending Christmas Day Services in small towns near the Manned Space Center. They miss Christmas Eve church services staying at home to anxiously monitor the progress of Apollo eight. Apollo eight is not 205,000 miles from the earth, its speed will start to pick up as it escapes the moon’s gravitational pull spacecraft will encounter the Earth atmosphere on Friday. Nelson Benton, CBS News Houston.

Bob Smith 22:15
Two days later on December 27, Apollo eight splashdown in the Pacific

22:21
helicopter number 66.

22:29
comes as not forming.

22:33
And Lovell and Anders

22:35
standing on the steps. And a great chair goes up from a sailors out here on the flight back. All of them looking in very good condition level having a very noticeable various shades.

22:51
All three flute

22:54
Captain fyfield is at the microphone for him. And would you care to say a few words to the group.

22:59
We’re just very happy to be here. And we appreciate all your efforts. And I know you had to stay out here over Christmas. And that made a tough time. But we can’t tell you how much as how much we really appreciate you being here and how proud it is for us to participate in this event because thousands of people made this possible. And I guess we’re all just part of the good thank you very much.

23:21
Admission Control and use them a sudden bursting out of stars and stripes and big strong cigars. Perhaps reflecting what Frank Borman meant when He radioed the moon isn’t made of green cheese. It’s made of American cheese. This afternoon, NASA announced that the next step would test the long overdue lunar landing module in Earth orbit is to be launched February 28. Meanwhile, world reaction continues to pour in over the triumph and flight of Apollo eight from 10 Soviet astronauts praising the precision and courage of the flight from Pope Paul expressing the hope that all the world might benefit from Apollo eight, and of course from three wives and 11 children, the families of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders. And

Bob Smith 24:07
then a week later on January 9, Americans rolled out the red carpet for the Apollo eight astronauts.

24:13
Good evening this is Douglas Edwards, CBS News. It was Apollo eight day in our nation’s capital A day of warmth official tribute to the first three men to circle the moon Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders CBS News White House correspondent Robert PeerPoint reports

24:30
the three astronauts in their families arrived at the White House 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled formal ceremony today, so everyone could get acquainted with the Johnsons. It was this kind of easy informality that set the tone for the day. The President articulated the pride of the nation when he addressed the three astronauts before giving them each a NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

24:52
You have been heard no human being has ever ventured. You have seen firsthand I am what no human I oversaw before you. Your flight was an unparalleled achievement of technology.

25:09
Later on Capitol Hill, each of the astronauts spoke briefly to a joint meeting of Congress, including the cabinet and the Supreme Court. At one point, looking at the justices in the front row, Harold Borman remember their decision against praying and Bible reading in the public schools, but not quite soon enough.

25:26
I think that one of the things that was truly historic was that we were able to get good Roman Catholic Bill Anders to read the first four verses of the King James Version of the Bible. But now that I see the gentleman here in front row, I’m not sure we should have read the Bible at all.

25:47
Colonel Borman also paid Warren tribute to all in America and throughout history that helped make their flight to the Moon possible. If Apollo eight was a triumph, he declared modestly, was a triumph for all mankind. Robert Pierpoint, CBS News, Washington.

26:02
Later in the day, the astronauts met the press and gave encouraging reports for actually landing men on the moon this summer aboard Apollo 811. Rather, CBS News gave first word that the lunar landing crew for Apollo 11 had been named astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. It was also revealed that astronaut Borman was being promoted and would make no more space flights. Mormon strongly defended the space program, when asked by one reporter, if the space budget wouldn’t be better spent for solving problems here on Earth. There’s no

26:36
question in anyone’s mind that we have many serious problems here on the earth and in this country. I’m not sure you’ll solve them all by neglecting the quest for knowledge that we’re undertaking, and certainly within NASA and my own station, and so I’m not the one that makes the decisions as to how many funds or how much monies will be spent, where all I’m saying is that the next administration, I hope that the next administration will carefully consider not only the technical, and the scientific value of this program, but also the value of almost nebulous value that it has, as to the spirit of this country. Finally,

Bob Smith 27:19
50 years ago on January 10th 1969, here’s how we treated these explorers, the first men to leave Earth’s atmosphere to orbit another celestial body as heroes.

27:31
But even in New York City today gave the Apollo eight astronauts a traditional ticker tape parade up Broadway. The famous thoroughfare was renamed Apollo away as the three space heroes began a series of water wind appearances the nation’s largest city, Martin Dean reports

27:47
thousands of tiny American flags flapped in the chill wind, as the men from Apollo eight received a roaring Welcome to New York City. A thank you for what they had done. Astronauts Anders Borman and level who charge whose face at thousands of miles an hour in their rugged yet sophisticated space vehicle today inst, along with people lined streets of the city, in a classic old Touring Car top down, the ride was shared with Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor John Lindsay.

28:17
These three wonderful men and their families and this great organization, have given the world a leper, a new sense of hope and faith at a moment when people believe me really needed it. And we just thank them, and welcome to

28:34
those cities highest honor metals of gold were presented to the three men. Yesterday in Washington. They were awarded with Distinguished Service Medals by President Johnson during a day of official functions. The spokesman for the crew is Colonel Frank Borman Apollo eights commander.

28:52
Hey, I just say three words. I know I speak for Jim and Bill and myself. We all love New York. And we all love all of you. Thank you so much.

29:05
Next stop the United Nations where the Spaceman were greeted by UN Secretary General Fund. I’m

29:10
very happy to introduce these three Pathfinders in space. The first true Universalists if I may say, So, these three men actually did jump over the moon. Thank you very much.

29:28
We saw the earth the size of a quarter. And we recognize that and we reported then that there really is one world we’re all brothers. And yesterday before the US Congress, I acknowledged that the Apollo eight if it was a triumph at all, it was a triumph of all mankind. And I guess from three ordinary Americans, we have the wish that your mission will be successful, because truly, the United Nations is the whole over the world

30:03
the astronauts will be honored at a glittering steak dinner in New York tonight. Then tomorrow these Superman fly to Miami for this weekend’s Super Bowl the professional football championship game. Morton Dean, CBS News, New York.

Bob Smith 30:20
There you have it, a sampling of news coverage of the historic flight of Apollo eight as recorded a half century ago from radio and TV broadcasts by yours truly, this is Bob Smith, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me in my personal time capsule, and that you’ll join me next time for more fun here on the off ramp. The off ramp with Bob Smith is produced in association with CPL radio and the Cedarbrook Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

00Transcribed by https://otter.ai