Apollo 503
Spacecraft · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Apollo CSM / LM vs L3 Lunar Complex
Credit: © Mark Wade
Cancelled Apollo E mission - test of the Apollo lunar module in high earth orbit. Lunar module was not ready. Instead mission flown only with CSM into lunar orbit as Apollo 8.
The third Apollo flight announced on December 22, 1966, was the Apollo E mission - a test of the Apollo lunar module in high earth orbit. The Borman crew would be launched aboard a Saturn V, and put into a very high earth orbit. In mid-1968 Collins had to leave the crew due to a medical problem, and was replaced by Lovell. By late 1968, Apollo 7 had flown the Apollo C mission, but delays with the lunar module meant that neither the D or E profile missions could be flown. In order to beat the Russians around the moon, it was decided that the E mission would be cancelled and instead Borman's crew would fly an Apollo CSM into lunar orbit. This became Apollo 8.
More at: Apollo 503.
Related
Chronology
1 event
1967 December
- Apollo 503 (cancelled) - .
Crew: Anders,
Borman,
Collins.
Backup Crew: Conrad,
Gordon,
Williams, Clifton.
Nation: USA.
Program: Apollo.
Flight: Apollo 503.
Spacecraft: Apollo CSM.
The third Apollo flight announced on December 22, 1966, was the Apollo E mission - a test of the Apollo lunar module in high earth orbit. In order to beat the Russians around the moon, it was decided that the E mission would be cancelled and instead Borman's crew would fly an Apollo CSM into lunar orbit. This became Apollo 8.