Saturn 1B Rocket (Apollo 7)

Product Description

Saturn 1B Rocket (Apollo 7) (1:400 scale)
- Apollo 7 (launched on October 11th 1968) was the first manned mission of Project Apollo & the first manned US space mission launched after the cabin fire which killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, Apollo 204 (later renamed Apollo 1), on January 27, 1967. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle & the first three-person American space mission. The crew consisted of Mission Commander Walter M. Schirra, Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele & Lunar Module Pilot R. Walter Cunningham. The mission was intended as the first manned test of the redesigned Block II Apollo Command/ Service Module. It flew in Earth orbit so the crew could check life-support, propulsion & control systems. Despite tension between the crew & ground controllers, the mission was a technical success, which gave NASA the confidence to launch Apollo 8 around the moon just two months later. However, the flight would prove to be the last space flight for all of its three crew members.