Staple-bound official NASA manual entitled "Preliminary Flight Plan, Apollo 8, AS-503/CSM-103," 106 pages, 8 x 10.5, dated October 8, 1968, prepared by the Flight Planning Branch, Flight Crew Support Division at the Manned Spacecraft Center. The manual is comprised of five sections: General, Detailed Timeline, Consumables Analysis, Detailed Test Objectives, and Summary Flight Plan. Interior of manual features a few handwritten notations. In fine condition. Originates from the personal collection of Jack Stone, a Lockheed Electronics programmer who worked on the Consumable Analysis Team during the Apollo missions.
The identification code found on the front cover, “AS-503/CSM-103,” ended with “LM-3” on earlier examples of the Apollo 8 flight plan. The mission was initially intended to test the LM-3 in low Earth orbit as part of the first crewed flight of a lunar module, but the plan was canceled last minute when engineers determined that the spacecraft was still not ready. The recourse for Apollo 8 was then to use the CSM-103 to make the first manned lunar orbit, a decision some believe was urged by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who hoped to witness the first lunar flyby before leaving office. The crew of Apollo 8 orbited the moon 10 times in late December of 1968, with the Apollo 9 mission successfully testing the CSM and LM some three months later.
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