INTERVIEW — DR. TOM JONES — veteran NASA astronaut and author of latest book, “Ask the Astronaut” @TomJones_astro – discussed the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8 and Trump ordering the creation of US Space Command this week.
- 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 8: Apollo 8, the second manned spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program, was launched on December 21, 1968, and became the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it, and safely return.
- Launch date: December 21, 1968
- Orbital insertion: December 24, 1968, 9:59:20 UTC
- NASA’s 1st flight to moon, Apollo 8, marks 50th anniversary. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Fifty years ago on Christmas Eve, a tumultuous year of assassinations, riots and war drew to a close in heroic and hopeful fashion with the three Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis on live TV as they orbited the moon. To this day, that 1968 mission is considered to be NASA’s boldest and perhaps most dangerous undertaking.
- They became the first human beings to see the Earth from space as an entire planet, traveled farther from home than anyone in history, and in the process all but ended the Space Race.
- SPACE COMMAND: Trump orders creation of US Space Command. President Donald Trump ordered the creation of “Space Command” on Tuesday, a move the administration is labeling a precursor to creating a US Space Force.
