LBJ & Apollo 8 - December 1968
Video from the channel C-SPAN's American History TV about Apollo 8, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 8:19. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
A period newsreel reviewing the Apollo 8 mission. It opens with the White House dinner honouring the US space team, at which President Johnson praises outgoing NASA administrator James Webb and wishes Borman, Lovell and Anders a safe return; Charles Lindbergh and the Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 astronauts attend. This is followed by the countdown and liftoff of the Saturn, footage of the Moon, lunar orbit insertion, the reading of Genesis, the return-trip burn celebrated with the phrase "there is a Santa Claus", and the splashdown.
When and where it was filmed
The footage dates from December 1968: the dinner in Washington days before launch, liftoff from Cape Kennedy at 7:51 a.m., and the splashdown in the early hours of 27 December near the USS Yorktown, southwest of Honolulu.
Context
The narrator links the flight to the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight and gathers international reactions: the Soviets called it courageous, the Vatican called it bold, and astronomer Bernard Lovell called it a historic moment. It closes with Johnson's welcome message to the crew.