Genesis : the story of Apollo 8 : the first manned flight to another world

Focusing on the first manned flight to leave the earth's orbit, this book puts the space race in the context of American and world history. Christmas 1998 marks the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 8 flight. Color photos. It was Christmas Eve 1968. And the astronauts of Apollo 8 - Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders - were participants in a mission that took them faster (24,000 mph) and farther from the earth (240,000 miles) than any human had ever traveled. Apollo 8 was the mission that broke humanity's absolute bond to the earth: it was the first manned vehicle to leave the earth's orbit. Confined within a tiny spaceship, the astronauts were aided in their journey by a computer less powerful than one of today's handheld calculators. Their mission was not only a triumph of engineering, but also an enduring moment in history. The words these three men spoke from lunar orbit reverberated through American society, changing our culture in ways no one predicted. A comprehensive account of the first manned space mission to leave Earth's orbit describes the odyssey of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders in a study of a seminal mission that transformed human concepts of space exploration. IP. By Robert Zimmerman. Map Of Part Of The Lunar Surface Of The Moon As Seen From Apollo 8 On Endpapers. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [281]-290) And Index. Chronicles the flight of Apollo 8, the first manned flight to the moon, and discusses how the mission affected world history and influenced the American culture SEALED WITHIN A CRAMPED CONE-SHAPED COMPARTMENT about the size of a customized van, three men waited silently.