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    • By NASA
      November 1968 proved pivotal to achieving the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. The highly successful Apollo 7 mission that returned American astronauts to space provided the confidence for NASA to decide to send the next flight, Apollo 8, on a trip to orbit the Moon in December. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft for that mission sat on Launch Pad 39A undergoing tests for its upcoming launch. In the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the three stages of the Saturn V for the Apollo 9 mission sat stacked awaiting the addition of its spacecraft undergoing final testing. Also in the VAB, workers had begun stacking the Apollo 10 Saturn V, while the Apollo 10 spacecraft arrived for testing. As the Apollo 8 and 9 crews continued their training, NASA named the crew for Apollo 10 and announced the science experiments that the first Moon landing astronauts would deploy.

      Left: President Lyndon B. Johnson, second from left, presents Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, left, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham with Exceptional Service Medals at the LBJ Ranch. Middle: Entertainer Bob Hope, second from right, taped an episode of his show at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, with guests the “Voice of Mission Control” Paul P. Haney, left, Apollo 7 astronauts Schirra, Cunningham, and Eisele, and television star Barbara Eden. Right: The Apollo 7 Command Module on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field.
      Following their highly successful flight, Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham returned to Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base on Oct. 26. On Nov. 2, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the astronauts with Exceptional Service Medals at the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, Texas. Four days later, comedian Bob Hope filmed an episode of his weekly television variety show in the auditorium of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Hope saluted the Apollo 7 astronauts in a skit that included actress Barbara Eden, star of the television series “I Dream of Jeannie” that featured fictional astronauts. Paul P. Haney, MSC Director of Public Affairs and the “Voice of Mission Control,” also participated in the skit. Following the recovery of Apollo 7, the prime recovery ship U.S.S. Essex sailed for Norfolk Naval Air Station in Virginia, where on Oct. 27 workers offloaded the Command Module (CM), and placed it aboard a cargo plane to fly it to California for return to its manufacturer, North American Rockwell Space Division in Downey, for postflight inspection. On Jan. 20, 1969, the Apollo 7 astronauts as well as their spacecraft took part in President Richard M. Nixon’s first inauguration parade. In 1970, NASA transferred the Apollo 7 spacecraft to the Smithsonian Institution that loaned it to the National Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, Canada, for display. Following its return to the United States in 2004, it went on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas.

      Left: The circumlunar trajectory of Apollo 8. Middle: Apollo 8 astronauts William A. Anders, left, James A. Lovell, and Frank Borman during a press conference shortly after the announcement of their mission to orbit the Moon. Right: Anders, left, Lovell, and Borman in the Command Module simulator.
      On Nov. 12, 1968, NASA Headquarters put out the following statement: “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration today announced that the Apollo 8 mission would be prepared for an orbital flight around the Moon.” That momentous statement ended weeks of intense internal agency deliberations and public speculation about Apollo 8’s targeted mission. The original mission plan called for Apollo 8 to conduct the first test of the Lunar Module (LM) in Earth orbit, but when the LM fell behind schedule, NASA managers in August began contemplating sending the Apollo 8 crew on a lunar orbital test of the Command Module (CM). The decision hinged partly on a successful Apollo 7 mission, and with that milestone passed, NASA Administrator James E. Webb approved the daring plan. On only the second crewed Apollo mission, the first crew to launch on the Saturn V, and only the third launch of the mighty Moon rocket, with the second of those experiencing some serious anomalies, the decision weighed the risks against the benefits of achieving the Moon landing goal before the end of the decade. With the Dec. 21 launch date fast approaching, the Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders and their backups Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and Fred W. Haise had begun training for the lunar mission even before the official announcement. During a Nov. 16 press conference, Borman, Lovell, and Anders discussed their preparations for the historic mission. On Nov. 19, at KSC’s Launch Complex 39, engineers completed the Flight Readiness Test to validate the launch vehicle, spacecraft, and ground systems.

      Left: The Apollo 9 prime crew of James A. McDivitt, left, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, not pictured, prepares for an altitude chamber test of their Command Module (CM) in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: McDivitt, emerging from the CM, Schweickart, at left in the raft, and Scott complete water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico. Right: The Apollo 9 backup crew of Charles “Pete” Conrad, left, Richard F. Gordon, and Alan L. Bean prepares for their water egress training.
      The LM formed a critical component to the Moon landing effort. Delays in preparing LM-3 for flight resulted in the crewed test to slip to Apollo 9 in early 1969. The three stages of the Apollo 9 Saturn V stood stacked on Mobile Launcher 2 in High Bay 3 of the VAB. The Apollo 9 spacecraft components, CSM-104 and LM-3, continued testing in the KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB). The prime crew of James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, as well as their backups Charles “Pete” Conrad, Richard F. Gordon, and Alan L. Bean completed several altitude chamber tests with CSM-104 during the month of November. On Nov. 30, workers placed LM-3 inside its Spacecraft LM Adapter, topping it with CSM-104 to complete the spacecraft for its Dec. 3 rollover to the VAB for mating with the Saturn V. McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart conducted water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas. On Nov. 25, workers aboard the Motor Vessel M/V Retriever lowered a mockup CM with the crew inside into the water in a nose-down position. Flotation bags inflated to right the spacecraft to a nose-up position. The astronauts then exited the capsule onto life rafts and recovery personnel hoisted them aboard a helicopter. Backups Conrad, Gordon, and Bean completed the test on Dec. 6.

      Left: The Apollo 10 prime crew of Eugene A. Cernan, left, John W. Young, and Thomas P. Stafford. Right: The Apollo 10 backup crew of L. Gordon Cooper, Edgar D. Mitchell, and Donn F. Eisele.
      On Nov. 13, NASA announced the crew for the Apollo 10 mission planned for the spring of 1969. The fourth crewed Apollo mission would involve the launch of a CM and LM on a Saturn V rocket. Depending on the success of earlier missions, Apollo 10 planned to test the CM and LM either in Earth orbit or in lunar orbit, the latter a dress rehearsal for the actual Moon landing likely to follow on Apollo 11. NASA designated Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan as the prime crew, the first all-veteran three person crew. The trio had served as the backup crew on Apollo 7 and had flight experience in the Gemini program. As backups, NASA assigned L. Gordon Cooper, Donn F. Eisele, and Edgar D. Mitchell. Cooper had flown previously on Mercury 9 and Gemini VIII, Eisele had just returned from Apollo 7, while this marked the first crew assignment for Mitchell. As support crew members, NASA named Joe H. Engle, James B. Irwin, and Charles M. Duke.

      Left: The Apollo 10 Command Module, left, and Service Module arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: The Apollo 10 S-IC first stage arrives at KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Right: Workers in the VAB stack the Apollo 10 first stage on its Mobile Launcher.
      Flight hardware in support of Apollo 10 continued to arrive at KSC. Following delivery of LM-4 in October, on Nov. 2 workers mated its two stages and placed the vehicle in one of the MSOB’s altitude chambers. Stafford and Cernan carried out a sea level run on Nov. 22. The CM-106 and SM-106 for Apollo 10 arrived at KSC on Nov. 23 and workers trucked them to the MSOB where they mated the two modules three days later. In the VAB, the Saturn V’s S-IC first stage arrived on Nov. 27 and workers erected it on Mobile Launcher 3 in High Bay 2, awaiting the arrival of the upper stages.

      Left: A mockup of the laser ranging retroreflector (LRRR) experiment. Middle left: A mockup of the passive seismic experiment package (PSEP). Middle right: A mockup of the solar wind composition (SWC) experiment. Right: A suited technician deploys mockups of the Apollo 11 experiments – the SWC, far left, the PSEP, and the LRRR, during a test session.
      On Nov. 19, NASA announced that when Apollo astronauts first land on the Moon, possibly as early as during the Apollo 11 mission in the summer of 1969, they would deploy three scientific experiments – a passive seismometer experiment package (PSEP), a laser ranging retro-reflector (LRRR), and a solar wind composition (SWC) experiment – during their 2.5-hour excursion on the lunar surface. The PSEP will provide information about the Moon’s interior by recording any seismic activity. The passive LRRR consists of an array of precision optical reflectors that serve as a target for Earth-based lasers for highly precise measurements of the Earth-Moon distance. The SWC consists of a sheet of aluminum foil that the astronauts deploy at the beginning of their spacewalk and retrieve at the end for postflight analysis. During the exposure, the foil traps particles of the solar wind, especially noble gases.

      Left: The Lunar Module Test Article-8 (LTA-8) inside Chamber B of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Middle: Astronaut James B. Irwin inside LTA-8 during one of the altitude runs. Right: Workers remove LTA-8 from SESL’s Chamber B at the conclusion of the altitude tests.
      On Nov. 14, engineers in MSC’s Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) completed a series of altitude tests with LM Test Article-8 (LTA-8) to certify the vehicle for lunar missions. Astronaut Irwin and Grumman Aircraft Corporation consulting pilot Gerald P. Gibbons completed the final test, the last in a series of five that started on Oct. 14. Grumman pilot Glennon M. Kingsley paired up with Gibbons for three of the tests. During the tests that simulated various portions of the LM’s flight profile, the chamber maintained a vacuum simulating an altitude of about 150 miles and temperatures as low as -300o F. Strip heaters attached to the LTA’s surface provided the simulated solar heat. NASA transferred the LTA-8 to the Smithsonian Institution in 1978 and it is now on public display at Space Center Houston.

      Depiction of Zond 6’s circumlunar trajectory. Image credit: courtesy RKK Energia.

      Left: A Proton rocket with a Zond spacecraft on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Right: Zond 6 photographed the Earth as it looped around the Moon. Image credits: courtesy RKK Energia.

      Depiction of Zond 6’s skip reentry trajectory flown. Image credit: courtesy RKK Energia.
      In another reminder that the race to the Moon still existed, on Nov. 10 the Soviet Union launched the Zond 6 spacecraft. Although it launched uncrewed, the Zond spacecraft, essentially a Soyuz without the forward orbital compartment and modified for flights to lunar distances, could carry a crew of two cosmonauts. A cadre of cosmonauts trained for such missions. Similar to the Zond 5 mission in September, Zond 6 entered a trajectory that looped it around the Moon on Nov. 13, passing within 1,500 miles of the lunar surface. The spacecraft took photographs of the Moon’s near and far sides and of the distant Earth. As it neared Earth during its return journey, trouble developed aboard the spacecraft as a faulty hatch seal caused a slow leak and it began to lose atmospheric pressure. Ground controllers initially steadied the pressure loss and performed a final midcourse maneuver that allowed Zond 6 to perform a skip reentry to land in Soviet territory on Nov. 17. However, the spacecraft continued to lose pressure and a buildup of static electricity created a coronal discharge that triggered the spacecraft’s soft landing rockets to fire and cut the parachute lines while it was still descending through 5,300 meters altitude. Although the capsule hit the ground at a high velocity, rescue forces were able to recover the film containers. The Soviets at the time did not reveal either the depressurization or the crash but claimed the flight was a successful circumlunar mission. With two apparently successful uncrewed circumlunar flights and the resumption of crewed missions with Soyuz 3 in October, these Soviet activities perhaps played a part in the decision to send Apollo 8 to the Moon.
      News from around the world in November 1968:
      Nov. 5 – Richard M. Nixon elected as the 37th U.S. President.
      Nov. 5 – Shirley A. Chisolm of Brooklyn, New York, becomes the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress.
      Nov 8 – The United States launches Pioneer 9 into solar orbit to monitor solar storms that could be harmful to Apollo astronauts traveling to the Moon.
      Nov. 13 – The HL-10 lifting body aircraft with NASA pilot John A. Manke at the controls made its first successful powered flight after being dropped from a B-52 bomber at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert.
      Nov. 14 – Yale University announces it is going co-ed beginning in the 1969-1970 academic year.
      Nov. 22 – The Beatles release the “The Beatles” (better known as the White Album), the band’s only double album.
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    • By NASA
      In October 1968, the American human spaceflight program took significant steps toward achieving President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth before the end of the decade. American astronauts returned to space after a 23-month hiatus. The success of the 11-day Apollo 7 mission heralded well for NASA to decide to send the next mission, Apollo 8, to orbit the Moon in December. The Saturn V rocket for that flight rolled out to its seaside launch pad two days before Apollo 7 lifted off. Preparations for later missions to test the Lunar Module (LM) in Earth orbit and around the Moon continued in parallel, as did work in anticipation of astronauts and their lunar samples returning from the Moon. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union also resumed its human spaceflight program.

      Left: Apollo 7 astronauts Donn F. Eisele, left, Walter M. Schirra, and R. Walter Cunningham review flight trajectories with Director of Flight Crew Operations Donald K. “Deke” Slayton shortly before launch. Middle: Schirra, left, Eisele, and Cunningham suit up for launch. Right: Liftoff of Apollo 7, returning American astronauts to space!
      The liftoff of Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham on Oct. 11, 1968, signaled the end of a 23-month hiatus in American human spaceflights resulting from the tragic Apollo 1 fire. To prevent a recurrence of the fire and to increase overall safety, NASA and North American Rockwell in Downey, California, redesigned the Apollo spacecraft, and Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham spent months training to test it in Earth orbit. By the time they lifted off from Launch Pad 34 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo 8 mission had already rolled out to Launch Pad 39A a few miles away.

      Left: View of Apollo 7 lifting off from Launch Pad 34, with the Saturn V for Apollo 8 on Launch Pad 39A in the background. Middle: The Apollo 7 S-IVB third stage, used as a rendezvous target. Right: Apollo 7 astronauts Donn F. Eisele, left, Walter M. Schirra, and R. Walter Cunningham on the prime recovery U.S.S. Essex following their successful 11-day mission.
      During their 11-day mission, Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham thoroughly tested the redesigned Apollo spacecraft. Early in the mission, they performed rendezvous maneuvers with their rocket’s S-IVB second stage, a maneuver planned for later missions to retrieve the LM. They thoroughly tested the Service Propulsion System engine, critical on later lunar missions for getting into and out of lunar orbit, by firing it on eight occasions, including the critical reentry burn to bring them home. The three astronauts conducted the first live television broadcasts from an American spacecraft, providing viewers on the ground with tours of their spacecraft. Teams from the U.S.S. Essex (CV-9) recovered Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham and their Command Module (CM) from the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 22. Apollo program managers declared that Apollo 7 “accomplished 101%” of its planned objectives. 

      Left: Apollo 8 astronauts James A. Lovell, left, William A. Anders, and Frank Borman attend the rollout of their Saturn V from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. Middle: The Apollo 8 Saturn V at Launch Pad 39A. Right: Borman, left, Lovell, and Anders pose with their Saturn V following a crew egress exercise from their spacecraft.
      The success of Apollo 7 gave NASA the confidence to announce in November that the next mission, Apollo 8, would attempt to enter orbit around the Moon. In early October, workers in High Bay 2 of KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) completed the stacking of the Saturn V rocket for Apollo 8 by adding the Command and Service Module (CSM). On Oct. 9, two days before Apollo 7 lifted off, as the Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders and other NASA officials looked on, the completed Saturn V rolled out from the VAB to begin its eight-hour journey to Launch Pad 39A, three and a half miles away. After the rocket arrived at the pad and engineers began testing it, on Oct. 23, Borman, Lovell, and Anders suited up and practiced emergency egress from the spacecraft, as did their backups Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and Fred W. Haise.

      Left: Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, left, William A. Anders, and James A. Lovell on the deck of the M/V Retriever prepare for their water egress test. Middle: Anders, left, Lovell, and Borman inside the boilerplate Apollo spacecraft during the water egress test. Right: Anders, left, Lovell, and Borman in the life raft after egressing from their spacecraft.
      As part of their training, Borman, Lovell, and Anders conducted water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas. On Oct. 25, sailors aboard the Motor Vessel M/V Retriever lowered a mockup CM with the crew inside into the water in a nose-down position. Flotation bags inflated to right the spacecraft to a nose-up position. The astronauts then exited the capsule onto life rafts and recovery personnel hoisted them aboard a helicopter. The next day, backups Armstrong, Aldrin, and Haise repeated the test. 

      Left: Workers in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida lower the S-IVB third stage onto the S-II second stage during stacking operations of the Apollo 9 Saturn V. Middle: Apollo 9 astronaut Russell L. Schweickart practices entering and leaving the Command Module while wearing a pressure suit during brief periods of weightlessness aboard a KC-135 aircraft. Right: Engineers conduct a docking test between the Apollo 9 CM, bottom, and Lunar Module in an altitude chamber in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building.
      Preparations for Apollo 9 included training for the first spacewalk of the Apollo program. According to the mission plan, with the LM and CM docked, crew members in both spacecraft would open their hatches. During the spacewalk, one astronaut would transfer from the LM to the CM using handrails for guidance and enter the CM in a test of an emergency rescue capability. The training for this activity took place aboard a KC-135 aircraft from Patrick Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida. By flying repeated parabolic trajectories, the aircraft could simulate 20-30 seconds of weightlessness at a time, during which the astronauts wearing space suits practiced entering and exiting a mockup of the CM. Backup crew members Alan L. Bean and Richard F. Gordon completed the training on Oct. 9 followed by David R. Scott and Russell L. Schweickart of the prime crew the next day. North American Rockwell delivered the Apollo 9 CSM to KSC in early October. At the end the month, technicians in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft and Operations Building (MSOB) conducted a docking test of the Apollo 9 LM and CSM to verify the interfaces between the two vehicles. In the VAB’s High Bay 3, workers stacked the three stages of the Saturn V rocket for Apollo 9 during the first week of October.

      Left: Workers in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida uncrate the Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM) descent stage shortly after its arrival. Middle: MSOB workers unwrap the Apollo 10 LM ascent stage. Right: MSOB workers prepare to mate the Apollo 10 LM ascent stage to its descent stage.
      In preparation for Apollo 10, planned as a test of the CSM and LM in lunar orbit, the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in Bethpage, New York, delivered the LM for that mission to KSC. The descent stage arrived Oct. 11, followed by the ascent stage five days later. Technicians in the MSOB mated the two stages and installed the assembled vehicle into a vacuum chamber on Nov. 2 to begin a series of altitude tests.

      Left: A flight of the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. Middle: The forward instrument panel of the Lunar Module Test Article-8. Right: Richard Wright, administrative assistant for the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, gives astronaut Michael Collins a tour of the gloveboxes for examining lunar samples.
      The Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV), built by Bell Aerosystems of Buffalo, New York, allowed Apollo astronauts to master the intricacies of landing on the Moon by simulating the LM’s performance in the final few hundred feet of the descent to the surface. Although an excellent training tool, the LLTV and its predecessor the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) also carried some risk. Astronaut Armstrong ejected from an LLRV on May 6, 1968, moments before it crashed at Houston’s Ellington AFB. The final accident investigation report, issued on Oct. 17, cited a loss of helium pressure that caused depletion of the fuel used for the reserve attitude thrusters, with inadequate warning to the pilot as a contributing factor. By that time, Chief of Aircraft Operations Joseph S. “Joe” Algranti piloted the properly modified LLTV during its first flight on Oct 3. Algranti and NASA pilot H.E. “Bud” Ream completed 14 checkout flights before a crash in December grounded the LLTV. In October, NASA began a series of critical thermal-vacuum tests to certify the Apollo LM for lunar missions. The tests, conducted in the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL), at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, involved Grumman pilots Gerald P. Gibbons and Glennon M. Kingsley and astronaut James B. Irwin. The tests using Lunar Module Test Article-8, concluded in November, and simulated the temperatures expected during a typical flight to the Moon and descent to the surface.
      To receive astronauts and their lunar samples after their return from the Moon, NASA built the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) in MSC’s Building 37. The LRL’s special design isolated astronauts and rock samples returning from the Moon to prevent back-contamination of the Earth by any possible lunar micro-organisms. By October 1968, with the Moon landing likely less than a year away, the LRL had reached a state of readiness that warranted a simulation of some its capabilities. Between Oct. 22 and Nov. 1, managers, scientists, and technicians carried out a 10-day simulation of LRL operations following a lunar landing mission. Although the exercise uncovered many deficiencies, enough time remained to correct them before the actual Moon landing.

      Left: Lift off of Soyuz 3 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying cosmonaut Georgi T. Beregovoi. Middle: Beregovoi during a television broadcast from Soyuz 3. Right: The Soyuz 3 spacecraft carrying Beregovoi descends under its parachute for a soft-landing. Image credits: courtesy Roscosmos.
      As a reminder that a race to the Moon still existed, the Soviet Union also resumed crewed missions, halted in April 1967 by the death of Soyuz 1 cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov. Just three days after the Apollo 7 splashdown, the Soviets launched Soyuz 2, but without a crew. The next day, Soyuz 3 lifted off with cosmonaut Georgi T. Beregovoi aboard, at 47 the oldest person to fly in space up to that time. Although Beregovoi brought the two spacecraft close together, he could not achieve the intended docking. Soyuz 2 landed on Oct. 28 and Beregovoi in Soyuz 3 two days later. Following the Zond 5 circumlunar flight in September, rumors persisted that the next Zond mission may soon carry two cosmonauts on a similar circumlunar flight. The apparently successful Zond 5 mission coupled with the rumors of an imminent Soviet crewed lunar mission possibly contributed to the decision to send Apollo 8 on its historic circumlunar flight in December 1968.
      News from around the world in October 1968:
      Oct. 2 – Redwood National Park established to preserve the tallest trees on Earth.
      Oct. 7 – The Motion Picture Association of America adopts a film rating system.
      Oct. 12 – Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain.
      Oct. 12 – The XIX Olympic Games open in Mexico City, the first time the games held in Latin America.
      Oct. 14 – The Beatles finish recording the double “White Album.”
      Oct. 16 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience releases its last studio album “Electric Ladyland.”
      Oct. 17 – Release of the film “Bullitt,” starring Steve McQueen.
      Oct. 20 – American high jumper Dick Fosbury introduces the Fosbury Flop technique at the Mexico City Olympics.
      Oct. 24 – The 199th and last flight of the X-15 hypersonic rocket plane takes place at Edwards Air Force Base in California, piloted by NASA pilot William H. Dana.
      Oct. 25 – Led Zeppelin gives its first concert, at Surrey University in England.
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    • By NASA
      A team led by NASA in Utah’s West Desert is in the final stages of preparing for the arrival of the first U.S. asteroid sample – slated to land on Earth in September.View the full article
    • By USH
      An orb what looks like some form of energy appears from behind the trees, hits the roof of a house, whereupon the orb then burst into a bright green color before bouncing off of the roof into space at a very high rate of speed. 

      As MrMBB333 states: I don't think it was any type of a bird, as we see no wings flapping, besides, I don't know how a bird could have burst into a bright green color like it did right there when it made contact with the roof and then it remained illuminated as it took off into the nighttime sky. 
      What could this mysterious object have been? Something supernatural, a natural phenomenon or could it have been an alien probe under intelligent control? Orbs, spheres, it is a phenomenon that is not yet understood. 
      Location: Garrison New York - July 26, 2023 at 9.33 pm. 
      Take a look at the rare orb footage, which starts at about the 8.09 minutes in the video.
        View the full article
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