Apollo 8 (composed in 2021)
Of all the NASA missions, Apollo 8 (1968) is one of my favourites because it is so audacious, pioneering and joyful. I spent a lot of time researching and learning about every step of the mission and watching interviews with the astronauts, trying to understand what the launch would feel like, realising the enormity of the Trans Lunar Injection manoeuvre, the risks of Lunar Orbit Insertion and the urgency of a successful Trans Earth Injection.
The launch is hard to capture in music without resorting to clichés. In the end, I decided to trust that Borman, Anders and Lovell (while admitting to some apprehension) were highly trained and capable of reacting to something so intense with calmness and purpose. I also tried to capture the sudden weightlessness and sensation of “slowing down” as the rocket finally leaves gravity.
I came to love the command module in the way you love a car that doesn’t let you down and takes you on memorable adventures. I gave the command module a voice and she can be heard in Trans Lunar Injection, impatient to leave earth’s orbit and then elated when she finally accelerates towards the moon. She returns again in Trans Earth Injection, singing the battle cry of the ancient Greeks as she takes the astronauts successfully out of the moon’s orbit.
When Jim Lovell described the desolation of the moon, I found myself wanting to give the moon a voice and I imagined her reaction to receiving visitors who had come to meet and observe her for the first time, having only known the battering of asteroids and comets. When the astronauts go out of contact with mission control, I wrote We’ll See You on the Other Side as a hymn for astronauts. Earthrise was inspired by an epic organ voluntary, ringing out in a cathedral and I couldn’t resist sending a hint of R2D2 to help the crew get safely back on the ground for re-entry and splashdown, while trying to capture the exoticness and mystery of the Pacific Ocean.
Writing music to accompany the Apollo 8 Mission was an absolute joy from start to finish and I felt quite sad when it was over in the same way as you do after finishing a book you love.
The tracks are:
Apollo 8 Launch - December 21, 1968 - At 7:51am on 21 December 1968, astronauts Frank Borman, William Anders and James Lovell set off in the first crewed spacecraft to leave earth's orbit and attempt to orbit the moon.
Trans Lunar Injection - The Trans Lunar Injection rocket burn sent Apollo 8 out of earth's orbit and sent humankind on the way to the moon for the first time, travelling at 24,226 miles an hour. Meanwhile, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observing Station Hawaii, the TLI manoeuvre was captured on camera by manager David Le Conte who later said, "To this day the stunning vision of man's first journey to the Moon remains the most unforgettable sight of my life."
We'll see you on the other side - The crew prepared for the lunar orbit insertion burn. This risky manoeuvre had to be performed on the far side of the moon, out of contact with Mission Control back on earth. Mission Control would only know if it had gone well if the crew emerged at an exactly calculated moment. They cleared the crew for the lunar orbit insertion, with the reassuring words "you're riding the best bird we can find" and James Lovell signed off with "we'll see you on the other side".
Lunar Orbit Insertion- Bill Anders: "As we came into the shadow of the moon, suddenly it was infinitely black. And I looked out and there were stars everywhere and then as I looked out my side window, suddenly the stars stopped and there was this black hole - and the hairs went up on the back of my neck and I realised that that was the moon, blocking out the stars and it brought up an animalistic feeling." The lunar orbit insertion burn had to be performed very precisely, to avoid the risk of either crashing into the moon, being flung into space, or getting into an overly elliptical orbit. The astronauts described it as the longest 4 minutes of their lives. All Mission Control could do was wait for the crew to emerge from the far side of the moon. The crew emerged at exactly the right calculated time and the manoeuvre was completely successful. The Apollo 8 craft was now in lunar orbit.
The Moon Serenades the Astronauts - Jim Lovell's first description of the moon was that it is "essentially grey, no color - looks like plaster of Paris or sort of a grayish beach sand." All three crew members described the moon as vast, lonely and desolate. Meanwhile, the moon has been alone for about 4.5 billion years, left with a pockmarked complexion from collisions with asteroids and meteorites. Finally, she receives a visit from earth, a small craft which just circles around her, observing, without colliding into her.
Earthrise - When the spacecraft emerged from behind the moon, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans to witness an Earthrise. Anders was the first to see it, emerging from the moon's horizon. He took the famous Earthrise photo which was to be regarded as one of the most significant photographs of the 20th century. Bill Anders famously said: "We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth"
Trans Earth Injection - As the crew orbited the moon, they made a television transmission led by Frank Borman, with each astronaut describing the moon and wishing the world a merry Christmas. The last operation was Trans Earth Injection, in which one more burn was required to get out of the moon's orbit and back towards earth. As with Lunar Orbit Insertion, the burn had to be performed on the far side of the moon and it was critical that it went successfully otherwise the crew would have been left stranded. Again, Mission Control had to wait for the space craft to emerge to know if everything had gone to plan. The command module had been magnificent for the whole mission and did not let them down - it went perfectly. The crew then began their journey back to earth on Christmas day.
Cruise Back to Earth - The cruise back to earth would last about 2 and a half days. For most of it, the crew were able to relax. On Christmas day, they did another television transmission, giving a tour of the spacecraft. The only blip was that at one point, Jim Lovell accidentally erased some of the computer's memory while using the computer to view various stars. He had to perform a series of manual navigational corrections to realign the command module, using the position of the stars as guidance. This was to prove to be very valuable practise for when he had to perform this procedure in far more urgent conditions in the Apollo 13 mission.
Reentry and Splashdown - Reentry went as planned, with the spacecraft's computer controlling the descent and Frank Borman ready to take over in the event of any problems. Like the rest of the mission, it went well and the command module landed in the North Pacific Ocean, initially upside down, before being corrected by the spacecraft's inflatables. The crew and command module were picked up by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. 1968 had been a turbulent year for the world, but thanks the success of this mission and the bravery and ingenuity of Borman, Lovell and Anders, the year ended on a high.