Apollo+40: Apollo 7 in readiness, Apollo 8 rolls out

Apollo/Saturn 503/CSM-103 on the way to the pad, and from there the Moon (NASA)

Two momentous occasions occurred forty years ago today.

First, Apollo program officials certified that all changes mandated by the review process after the Apollo 1 tragedy had been completed on Apollo 7 (CSM-101) and that the spacecraft was ready in all respects for its flight just two days hence.

Second, America's first Moon ship - Apollo 8 (Saturn V booster #503 and Spacecraft CSM-103) - rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building destined for Pad 39A on its Mobile Launch Platform carried by the massive crawler transporter. Apollo 8's beginnings were slow, but none the less impressive.

Two days to the launch of Apollo 7...