Apollo 7 Launches on October 11, 1968

The Apollo 7 Saturn IB launched from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 34 at 11:03 a.m. October 11, 1968. This image show the tracking antenna on the left and a pad service structure on the right.

This week in 1968, Apollo 7 launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, marking the first flight of a crewed lunar orbital mission. The primary mission objective was to demonstrate the command and service module rendezvous capability. Today, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is developing NASA's Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, capable of sending astronauts to Mars and deeper into space than ever before. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space.