Apollo 8: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The initial crew assignment of [[Frank Borman]] as Commander, [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]] as Command Module Pilot (CMP) and [[William Anders]] as Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) for the third crewed Apollo flight was officially announced on November 20, 1967.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=374}}{{refn | group = n |On a lunar mission, the Command Module Pilot was assigned the role of [[Celestial navigation|navigator]], while the Lunar Module Pilot was assigned the role of [[flight engineer]], responsible for monitoring all spacecraft systems, even if the flight did not include a lunar module. The navigational systems console was in front of the center seat and the environmental and electrical systems console in front of the right hand seat. }} Collins was replaced by [[Jim Lovell]] in July 1968, after suffering a [[intervertebral disc|cervical]] [[Spinal disc herniation|disc herniation]] that required surgery to repair.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=288–294}} This crew was unique among pre-[[Space Shuttle]] era missions in that the commander was not the most experienced member of the crew: Lovell had flown twice before, on [[Gemini 7|Gemini VII]] and [[Gemini 12|Gemini XII]]. This would also be the first case of a commander of a previous mission (Lovell, Gemini XII) flying as a non-commander.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1977|p=533}}{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=33}} This was also the first mission to reunite crewmates from a previous mission (Lovell and Borman, Gemini VII).

As of June 2024, James Lovell is the last surviving Apollo 8 astronaut. Frank Borman and William Anders died on November 7, 2023,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hagerty |first=James R. |date=2023-11-09 |title=Frank Borman, Who Led Historic Flight Around the Moon in 1968, Dies at Age 95 |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/frank-borman-who-led-historic-flight-around-the-moon-in-1968-dies-at-age-95-489afa09 |access-date=2023-11-09 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>, and on June 7, 2024,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Richard |date=2024-06-07 |title=William A. Anders, 90, Dies; Flew on First Manned Orbit of the Moon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/science/william-a-anders-dead.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>, respectively.

===Backup crew===