Astronauts Examined

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31864, 17 December 1968, Page 21

Astronauts Examined

(N Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) CAPE KENNEDY, Dec. 16. America’s Apollo 8 astronauts were subjected to a five-hour medical examination today as the count-down, which began last night, for their Christmas space voyage round the moon, continued smoothly.

The three astronauts, Colonel Frank Borman, Captain James Lovell, and Major William Anders, are being kept away from crowds as the historic mission approaches because space officials want them to take no chance of falling foul of the Hong Kong flu epidemic now sweeping the nation. Today, their doctors were not only making sure the astronauts were in perfect health, but were collecting medical data for comparison with a post-flight examination. The first part of the 103hour mission count-down is devoted mainly to the spacecraft in which the astronauts will whirl round the moon 10 times.

spacecraft and eight earthorbiting Vela nuclear-test-de-tection satellites maintain watch for solar flares throughout the year. If all goes as planned, the astronauts will blast off on Saturday morning and reach the moon on Christmas Eve. They will circle the moon for 20 hours, making about 10 orbits before starting their return flight to earth. The Apollo spacecraft is scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, December 27.

The count-down, which enters its final stage on Thursday night, 28 hours before the blast off, includes a number of “built-in holds” that will enable a lift-off on time, even if there are a number of unforeseen snags. The count-down is the most complex in space history and is being handled by computers. In the meantime, 12 satellites already whirling in space are keeping a special look-out for deadly solar flares to make sure that the Apollo 8 astronauts are not harmed by radiation during! their flight. Four sun-orbiting Pioneer