Posted by Ray Katz in current, history, moon
The Apollo 8 Crew: 40 Years Later
Forty years ago next month, the Apollo 8 crew took the first manned Saturn 5 into lunar orbit. They were the first there…and nobody’s been back since December 1972. Yesterday, the crew re-united at the National Air & Space Museum to reminisce.
Borman, Lovell and Anders—older but as sharp as ever—joshed each other and answered questions at the John Glenn lecture event. Below, Anders answers the question: would you do it again?
UPDATE: A few additional notes from the event.
Bill Anders said the situation of the U.S. being unable to launch its own astronauts (after the shuttle retires and before the new vehicle is ready) is ridiculous.
Both Borman and Anders said they went to the moon to beat the Russians…not for science.
Jim Lovell noted that a “squak box” allowed his wife to hear the mission audio live in her home. He was fine with that, because nothing bad happened on Apollo 8. “How about Apollo 13″, quipped Borman. Lovell laughed.
