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Apollo 7

Mission Number: AS-205 11-22 October 1968

Crew:
   
Walter M. Schirra, Jr. [3], Jr., Commander
    Donn F. Eisele [1], CSM Pilot
    R. Walter Cunningham [1], LM Pilot

Backup Crew:
    Thomas P. Stafford, Commander
    John W. Young, CSM Pilot
    Eugene A. Cernan, LM Pilot

Launch:
    Pad: 34
    Date: 11 October 1968
    Time: 15:02:45 UTC

Orbit:
    Altitude: 140 x 183 miles
    Orbits: 163
    Duration: 10 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes

Landing:
    Location: Atlantic Ocean, SE of Bermuda (27° 32' N, 64° 04' W)
    Vessel: USS Essex (CVS-9)
    Date: 22 October 1968
    Time: 11:10:45 UTC

Launched with a Saturn-IB. This mission was a shakedown flight for the Command and Service Module. All the crew members came down with colds during the flight. In violation of NASA policy, no one wore a helmet during reentry for fear of rupturing their ear drums.

The Apollo 7 command module is on loan from the National Air and Space Museum to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas TX.