Editing Apollo 7 (section)

{{short description|First crewed flight of the Apollo space program}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Apollo 7
| image                 = Apollo 7 during the first live television transmission from space.jpg|
| image_caption         = Apollo 7 transmitted the first live television broadcast aboard a crewed American spacecraft.
| insignia              = Apollo7.png
| mission_type          = Crewed Earth orbital CSM flight ([[Apollo mission types|C]])
| operator              = [[NASA]]<ref name="Orloff">{{cite book |last=Orloff |first=Richard W. |title=Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm |access-date=July 6, 2013 |series=NASA History Series |orig-year=First published 2000 |date=September 2004 |publisher=[[NASA]] |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-16-050631-4 |lccn=00061677 |id=NASA SP-2000-4029 |chapter=Table of Contents |chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_00g_Table_of_Contents.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823124845/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm |archive-date=August 23, 2007}}</ref>
| COSPAR_ID             = 1968-089A (craft), 1968-089B (S-IVB){{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=173}}
| SATCAT                = 3486<ref>{{cite web|title=Apollo 7|access-date=October 23, 2020|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1968-089A|publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref>
| mission_duration      = {{time interval|11 October 1968 15:02:45|22 October 1968 11:11:48|show=dhms|sep=,}}
| orbits_completed      = 163<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]]|access-date=October 23, 2020|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo7.cfm|title=Apollo 7 (AS-205)|archive-date=July 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704011501/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo7.cfm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| spacecraft            = [[Apollo (spacecraft)|Apollo CSM-101]]
| manufacturer          = [[North American Rockwell]]
| launch_mass           = {{convert|36419|lb|kg}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A07_MissionReport.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A07_MissionReport.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Apollo 7 Mission Report |date=December 1, 1968 |publisher=NASA |page=A-47 |location=Washington, D.C. | access-date = 2020-12-11}}</ref>
| landing_mass          = {{convert|11409|lb|kg}}{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=180}}
| launch_date           = {{start date text|October 11, 1968, 15:02:45|timezone=yes}}{{spaces}}UTC
| launch_rocket         = [[Saturn IB]] SA-205
| launch_site           = [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Kennedy]] [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34|LC-34]]
| landing_date          = {{end date text|October 22, 1968, 11:11:48|timezone=yes}}{{spaces}}UTC
| landing_site          = North Atlantic Ocean{{break}}{{coord|27|32|N|64|04|W|type:event|name=Apollo 7 splashdown}}<ref name = "facts">{{cite web|publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]]|access-date=October 23, 2020|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo7-facts.cfm/|title=Apollo 7}}</ref>
| recovery_by           = {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}}

| orbit_epoch           = October 13, 1968<ref name=satcat>{{cite web |last=McDowell |first=Jonathan |title=SATCAT |url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt |publisher=Jonathan's Space Pages |access-date=March 23, 2014}}</ref>
| orbit_reference       = [[geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime          = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|227|km|nmi|sp=us}}{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=173}}
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|301|km|nmi|sp=us}}{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=173}}
| orbit_inclination     = 31.6{{spaces}}degrees{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=173}}
| orbit_period          = 89.55{{spaces}}minutes{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=173}}
| apsis                 = gee

| crew_size             = 3
| crew_members          = {{Unbulleted list
  |[[Wally Schirra|Walter M. Schirra]]
  |[[Donn F. Eisele]]
  |[[Walter Cunningham|R. Walter Cunningham]]
}}
| crew_callsign         = Apollo 7
| crew_photo            = The Apollo 7 Prime Crew - GPN-2000-001160.jpg
| crew_photo_caption    = Left to right: [[Donn F. Eisele|Eisele]], [[Wally Schirra|Schirra]], [[Walter Cunningham|Cunningham]]

| previous_mission      = [[Apollo 6]]
| next_mission          = [[Apollo 8]]
| programme             = [[Apollo program]]
}}

'''Apollo 7''' (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in [[NASA]]'s [[Apollo program]], and saw the resumption of [[human spaceflight]] by the agency after the fire that had killed the three [[Apollo&nbsp;1]] astronauts during a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967. The Apollo{{spaces}}7 crew [[commander (Apollo program)|was commanded]] by [[Wally Schirra|Walter M. Schirra]], with [[Command Module Pilot]] [[Donn F. Eisele]] and [[Lunar Module pilot]] [[Walter Cunningham|R. Walter Cunningham]] (so designated even though Apollo{{spaces}}7 did not carry a [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]]).

The three astronauts were originally designated for the second crewed Apollo flight, and then as backups for Apollo{{spaces}}1. After the Apollo{{spaces}}1 fire, crewed flights were suspended while the cause of the accident was investigated and improvements made to the spacecraft and safety procedures, and uncrewed test flights made. Determined to prevent a repetition of the fire, the crew spent long periods monitoring the construction of their [[Apollo command and service module]]s (CSM). Training continued over much of the {{awrap|21-month}} pause that followed the Apollo{{spaces}}1 disaster.

Apollo 7 was launched on October 11, 1968, from [[Cape Kennedy Air Force Station]], Florida, and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean eleven days later. Extensive testing of the CSM took place, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Despite tension between the crew and ground controllers, the mission was a complete technical success, giving NASA the confidence to send [[Apollo&nbsp;8]] into orbit around the [[Moon]] two months later. In part because of these tensions, none of the crew flew in space again, though Schirra had already announced he would retire from NASA after the flight. Apollo{{spaces}}7 fulfilled Apollo{{spaces}}1's mission of testing the CSM in [[low Earth orbit]], and was a significant step towards NASA's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon.