October 11th 1968: Apollo 7 Launch

Today is my birthday! I was interested in events that have happened in the history of space programs in the United States. The most interesting to me was the launch of Apollo 7 on October 11th, 1968. Apollo 7 was a 1968 human space flight carried out by the United States of America and was the first flight in the U.S Apollo space program to actually carry a crew into space. The mission was 10 days, 20 hours, and 9 minutes long. Apollo completed 163 orbits around Earth. This was just a test flight carried out by NASA. The launch took place from what was formally known as the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was Apollo CSM-101 which was composed of 3 different parts designed to accomplish the American Apollo program's goal of landing astronauts on the moon by the end of the 1960's.

The three crew members who were on board were, Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham. After 163 orbits, on October 22nd, 1968, the crew returns to Earth, landing in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The mission was a complete success, giving NASA the confidence they needed to launch Apollo 8 to the moon just a short two months later. However, this flight proved to be the last NASA space flight for all three of Apollo 7's crew when the members landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, it was the last manned launch from Cape Kennedy Force Station.

This is an aerial picture of the Cape Kennedy Force Station with the rocket Saturn I waiting for launch.

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