50 years ago today21 Dec 2018 19:57
Apollo 8 left the surface of the earth, the first time that the mighty Saturn V rocket had ever fully fired up and taken humans beyond the immediate environment of the Earth.
As the command module went behind the moon for the first time all radio contact with Earth was lost, most critically at the point that the main engines had to fire to inject the module and its three crew into a stable orbit around the moon.
Get it wrong and the capsule and all aboard would simply head off into the inky void of the solar system to certain death and the probable cancellation of the moon-landing programme.
We here have had our own periods of radio silence, but I suspect that whilst we have been sitting nervously here listening to the crackle of white noise, out of sight and unheard, Bushveld's engines have been firing, pushing them into their new orbit.
After 45 minutes Apollo 8 emerged from the darkness the spread a message of success and hope. We may have to wait a little longer than that, but the result will be the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8LlUrT7MFo