3 members of Apollo 8

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The three astronauts of historical mission Apollo 8

Jim Lovell was Command Module Pilot and later Commander of also memorable mission Apollo 13. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 25, 1928. He is of Czech descent after his mother. His father died in a car accident when he was only 12. As a child he was interested in rocketry. He attended the University of Wisconsin Madison for two years.

He applied to NAVY in the fall 1948 and served as a pilot. He attended Annapolis for four years and graduated as an Ensign and B.S. degree in 1952. He served in the Korean war before becoming NAVY test pilot. He became a NASA astronaut in 1962.

During his 4 flights he spent in the space almost 30 days. He was record holder in days spending in the space between 1966 and 1973.

Gemini 7 (December 4, 1965 - December 18, 1965)
Gemini 12 (November 11, 1966 - November 15, 1966)
Apollo 8 (December 21, 1968 - December 27, 1968)
Apollo 13 (April 11, 1970 - April 17, 1970)

In popular movie Apollo 13 Lovell has played a small role of the captain of the USS Iwo Jima, which was recovering the Apollo 13 after the splashdown. Lovell can be seen shaking Tom Hanks's hand. He was offered an admiral character, however he refused and said: "I retired as a Captain and a Captain I will be."

Anders, Lovell, Borman

Bill Anders was Apollo 8 a Lunar Module pilot and it was his only space flight. He was born on October 17, 1933 in British Honk Hong. He became a jet pilot. He joined Apollo program in 1963. He was also US ambassador in Norway in 1976 and 1977. After that he left and started to work in private sector.

Anders's picture of Earthrise over the Moon

Frank Borman as Apollo 8 Commander. He was born on March 14, 1928. He graduated from West Point and served as a pilot before becoming as a test pilot and becoming later an astronaut in 1962. After Apollo 8 he has left NASA and became an airline pilot in Eastern Air Lines. He retired from airline in 1986. He lives in New Mexico where he rebuilds and flies planes from the Second World war and Korean war.


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