Leiderman Apollo 8 Training Capsule 2013 10pp

STUART M. LEIDERMAN P.O.
Box 1055, Concord, New Hampshire 03302-1055

603.269.2139 leiderman@mindspring.com
Vintage NASA Apollo 8 Training Capsule

Available for Public and Private Use
Leiderman Apollo 8 training capsule, ca. 1968
BACKGROUND: The United States' Apollo 8 was the first flight to the Moon, and occurred during
Christmas Season 1968, more than forty years ago. American astronauts Borman, Lovell and Anders
made ten orbits around the Moon and became the first humans far enough into space to look back and
see the whole Planet Earth. Their color images from space were televised worldwide and seen by
millions of people. Their ship is now displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
In 1994, Stuart Leiderman acquired from Oyster River High School, Durham, New Hampshire, the Apollo 8
capsule used by the U.S. Navy to train for retrieval of the Moon flight upon its return to Earth by ocean
splashdown. This one is full-scale, without cabin or windows, approximately 13 feet in diameter, 10 feet high
and weighs seven tons. It is smoothly welded of thick, alloy steel plates, in twelve sections joined to interior
beams in the fashion of compass points. Large entry hatches are at the side and top. The interior is clear space
and could seat ten. After acquisition, the exterior was power washed and some interior lead ballast disks were
removed; otherwise, it is as acquired, with no modifications. Most of two layers of original paint are evident.
There is very little rust, even after years of exposure. Leiderman has moved the capsule over roadways with a
variety of low-slung tractor trailers, permitted as a wide-load. The original heavy wire cable loop at the top
facilitates lifting the capsule by crane, and it has also been lifted by a wide-bucket front-end loader. The bottom is
dished convexly, where a steel loop holds a length of large towing chain.
OFFERED: The Apollo 8 training capsule is offered with interpretive materials on loan to
cities and towns, organizations and agencies, as a special exhibit item that can be used to
accentuate information, education and action campaigns for human rights, environment
and conservation, public health, artistic expression, conferences and conventions,
sustainable development and other worthy causes.
For display and public participation, fitted fabric collars can be provided, on which
artists and visitors can paint or affix their ideas or greetings according to chosen themes.
The collars would then become souvenirs of the exhibition or, as desired, presented as
gifts, or auctioned to raise money for campaigns and causes.
EVENT EXPENSE CATEGORIES: planning assistance available
1. Capsule: fee negotiable, for the desired period of time.

2. Stuart Leiderman: expertise, travel and expenses for accompaniment, work
w/artists, fundraising, lectures, appearances, conference other event fees.
3. Transport: motor, rail or ship, round trip from New Hampshire, USA
4. Insurance: premium on $1 million policy for duration of transport and use.
5. Display stand or trailer: user purchased, rented or built as needed.
6. Outfitting, supplies: collars, interior, exterior, display, as desired by user.
7. Available artistic talent: commission or stipend, as desired by user
8. Other staffing, public relations: as desired by user
9. Available video-documentary service: promotion and post-event products.
pictured, the NASA Apollo 8 that went

to the moon is in the Chicago Museum
of Science and Technology
STUART M. LEIDERMAN
P.O. Box 1055, Concord, New Hampshire 03302-1055
STUART M. LEIDERMAN
STUART M. LEIDERMAN
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/v4p3b.htm December 21-27, 1968
MSC, "Apollo 8 Mission Report," Feb. 1969, pp. 1-1, 1-2; NASA OMSF, "Apollo Program Flight Summary Report,
Apollo Missions AS-201 through Apollo 8," Jan. 1969, pp. 32-35; Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1968, (NASA
SP-4010, 1969), pp. 318-23.
Apollo 8 (AS-503) was launched from KSC Launch Complex 39, Pad A, at 7:51 a.m. EST Dec. 21 on a Saturn V
booster. The spacecraft crew was made up of Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders. Apollo 8
was the first spacecraft to be launched by a Saturn V with a crew on board, and that crew became the first men to
fly around the moon.
All launch and boost phases were normal and the spacecraft with the S-IVB stage was inserted into an
earth-parking orbit of 190.6 by 183.2 kilometers above the earth. After post-insertion checkout of spacecraft
systems, the S-IVB stage was reignited and burned 5 minutes 9 seconds to place the spacecraft and stage in a
trajectory toward the moon - and the Apollo 8 crew became the first men to leave the earth's gravitational field.
The spacecraft separated from the S-IVB 3 hours 20 minutes after launch and made two separation maneuvers
using the SM's reaction control system. Eleven hours after liftoff, the first midcourse correction increased velocity
by 26.4 kilometers per hour. The coast phase was devoted to navigation sightings, two television transmissions,
and system checks. The second midcourse correction, about 61 hours into the flight, changed velocity by 1.5
kilometers per hour.
The 4-minute 15-second lunar-orbit-insertion maneuver was made 69 hours after launch, placing the spacecraft
in an initial lunar orbit of 310.6 by 111.2 kilometers from the moon's surface - later circularized to 112.4 by
110.6 kilometers. During the lunar coast phase the crew made numerous landing-site and landmark sightings,
took lunar photos, and prepared for the later maneuver to enter the trajectory back to the earth.
On the fourth day, Christmas Eve, communications were interrupted as Apollo 8 passed behind the moon, and the
astronauts became the first men to see the moon's far side. Later that day , during the evening hours in the United
States, the crew read the first 10 verses of Genesis on television to earth and wished viewers "goodnight, good
luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you - all of you on the good earth."
Subsequently, TV Guide for May 10-16, 1969, claimed that one out of every four persons on earth - nearly 1
billion people in 64 countries - heard the astronauts' reading and greeting, either on radio or on TV; and delayed
broadcasts that same day reached 30 additional countries.
On Christmas Day, while the spacecraft was completing its 10th revolution of the moon, the service propulsion
system engine was fired for three minutes 24 seconds, increasing the velocity by 3,875 km per hr and propelling
Apollo 8 back toward the earth, after 20 hours 11 minutes in lunar orbit. More television was sent to earth on the
way back and, on the sixth day, the crew prepared for reentry and the SM separated from the CM on schedule.
Parachute deployment and other reentry events were normal. The Apollo 8 CM splashed down in the Pacific, apex
down, at 10:51 a.m. EST, December 27 - 147 hours and 42 seconds after liftoff. As planned, helicopters and
aircraft hovered over the spacecraft and pararescue personnel were not deployed until local sunrise, 50 minutes
after splashdown. The crew was picked up and reached the recovery ship U.S.S. Yorktown at 12:20 p.m. EST. All
mission objectives and detailed test objectives were achieved, as well as five that were not originally planned (see
Appendix 5). The crew was in excellent condition, and another major step toward the first lunar landing had been
accomplished.

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STUART M. LEIDERMAN P.O.

Box 1055, Concord, New Hampshire 03302-1055

Vintage NASA Apollo 8 Training Capsule

Leiderman Apollo 8 training capsule, ca. 1968

EVENT EXPENSE CATEGORIES: planning assistance available

1. Capsule: fee negotiable, for the desired period of time.

pictured, the NASA Apollo 8 that went

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