11 October

1968: On 11 October 1968, the NASA mission Apollo 7 was launched.

After the January 1967 Apollo launch pad fire, the command module had been extensively redesigned. Apollo 7 was the first of four missions to test the Apollo spacecraft in preparation for the lunar landing.

Walter M. Schirra, the only astronaut to fly Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, commanded Apollo 7, an Earth-orbit test of the command and service modules.

The mission proved the spaceworthiness of the basic Apollo vehicle. The Apollo hardware and all mission operations worked without any significant problems, and the Service Propulsion System (SPS), the engine that would place Apollo in and out of lunar orbit, made eight nearly perfect firings. Eleven days in orbit took its toll on the astronauts. All three developed colds.

The mission included the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft.