30 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2018
had to think about when they
were discussing changing the
mission was, “Well, is that
Saturn V going to be ready?
Is it going to have glitches
in it?” And they went to the
manufacturers and they
talked to them and they said,
“Yes, we’re going to be OK,
we found out what’s wrong.
No problem at all.”... In my
personal case, I didn’t think
too much about it. I took their
word for it. We’re going. I
didn’t have second thoughts
about this f light whatsoever.
As a matter of fact, I was a
little bit different than, espe-
cially, Frank. Frank looked at
it as beating the Russians; I
looked at it as a mini Lewis
and Clark expedition. We’re
going to new territories, we’re
going to do new things. You
know being first before the
Russians was good, but it
wasn’t the main reason that I
thought it would be pertinent.Astronomy: Certainly
50 years now in the future
the Lewis and Clark aspect
is much bigger than the beat-
ing the Russians aspect.Lovell: That’s exactly right.
Astronomy: With all the new
experiences, did it help your
comfort level to be with Frank
Borman on the mission since
you had already f lown with
him on Gemini VII?Lovell: Yeah, Frank and I
knew each other. We spent
two weeks in Gemini VII to
see how man could live for
two weeks in zero gravity. We
got to know each other quite
well, as you can imagine. And
there’s a whole story going
by that when we were on the
deck of the aircraft carrier, we
announced our engagement.Astronomy: That’s good.
Did it feel any different whenThe crew of Apollo 8 — (left
to right) James Lovell, Bill
Anders, and Frank Borman
— pose on a simulator at
Kennedy Space Center just a
month before they took off
for the Moon.
“For some reason, I never worried.
I took it that this was going to be
a success from the beginning.”