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Forty-nine years ago, on the 21st of December, at 7:51:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders set out on the boldest crewed spaceflight of all time. Riding the gigantic Saturn V booster into orbit and beyond, they circled the Moon, becoming the first human beings ever to see their homeworld rising over a new horizon. For the flight controllers at Mission Control this, more than any of the other Apollo flights was a voyage for the ages. It was the height of the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The stakes were high. The risks were even higher. The Apollo command and service module (CSM) had only flown a single crewed flight. With no lunar module to provide an emergency lifeboat, it and it alone would be responsible for getting the crew into lunar orbit - and bringing them home again. The Saturn V had only flown two uncrewed test flights, one of them plagued by pogo problems. The computer software responsible for the whole complex mission around two celestial bodies had only just been finished in time for the December launch date. ------------ The Apollo Program has been a huge influence and source of inspiration for my KSP writing. Even so, I didn't start out expecting my description of the first kerballed flight to the Mün to have quite so many parallels with the real thing, from the uncertain global situation in the background to the missing lander (albeit for budgetary rather than technical reasons). But since they are there, I consider this to be my own, very small, tribute to Apollo 8 and everyone who made it happen. "Please be advised - there is a Santa Claus." Part 1 - World on the Edge Part 2 - Go at Thirty-Six Part 3 - This One's All Yours Part 4: Beacons Part 5 - Mün Part 6 - Launch Vehicle 1
