Editing Apollo 8 (section)

===Cruise back to Earth and reentry===

[[File:Apollo 8 reentry, December 27, 1968.jpg|thumb|left|Reentry, December 27, 1968, photographed from a [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] at 40,000 feet|alt=White streaks of light, with bright spots on the right side of them, fill the bottom of the frame. A larger yellow-tinted sphere with a streak is in the center of the frame. The background is black space.]]

The cruise back to Earth was mostly a time for the crew to relax and monitor the spacecraft. As long as the trajectory specialists had calculated everything correctly, the spacecraft would reenter Earth's atmosphere two-and-a-half days after TEI and [[splashdown (spacecraft landing)|splash down]] in the Pacific.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=39}}

On Christmas afternoon, the crew made their fifth television broadcast.<ref>
{{Cite AV media
| date      = 2003
| title     = Apollo 8: Leaving the Cradle
| url       = http://www.collectspace.com/resources/reviews/dvd/apollo8_leaving_the_cradle.html
| time      = Chapter 5, Disk 2
| medium    = DVD
| publisher = Spacecraft Films/[[20th Century Fox Home Entertainment]]
}}
</ref> This time, they gave a tour of the spacecraft, showing how an astronaut lived in space. When they finished broadcasting, they found a small present from Slayton in the food locker: a real turkey dinner with stuffing, in the same kind of pack given to the troops in Vietnam.{{sfn|Wilford|1973|p=68}}

Another Slayton surprise was a gift of three [[Miniature (alcohol)|miniature bottles]] of [[brandy]], which Borman ordered the crew to leave alone until after they landed. They remained unopened, even years after the flight.{{sfn|Schefter|1999|p=275}} There were also small presents to the crew from their wives. The next day, at about 124 hours into the mission, the sixth and final TV transmission showed the mission's best video images of the Earth, during a four-minute broadcast.<ref>
{{Cite AV media
| date      = 2003
| title     = Apollo 8: Leaving the Cradle
| url       = http://www.collectspace.com/resources/reviews/dvd/apollo8_leaving_the_cradle.html
| time      = Chapter 6, Disk 2
| medium    = DVD
| publisher = Spacecraft Films/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
}}
</ref> After two uneventful days, the crew prepared for reentry. The computer would control the reentry, and all the crew had to do was put the spacecraft in the correct attitude, with the blunt end forward. In the event of computer failure, Borman was ready to take over.{{sfn|Chaikin|1998|pp=127–128}}

[[File:The crew of Apollo 8 addresses the crew of the USS Yorktown after a successful splashdown and recovery.jpg|thumb|Crew of Apollo 8 addressing the crew of USS ''Yorktown'' after successful splashdown and recovery]]
Separation from the service module prepared the command module for reentry by exposing the heat shield and shedding unneeded mass. The service module would burn up in the atmosphere as planned.{{sfn|Chaikin|1998|pp=127–128}} Six minutes before they hit the top of the atmosphere, the crew saw the Moon rising above the Earth's horizon, just as had been calculated by the trajectory specialists.<ref name="splashdown1">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/22day6_maroon_splash.htm |title=Day 6: The Maroon Team—Splashdown |last1=Woods |first1=W. David |last2=O'Brien |first2=Frank |date=April 22, 2006 |work=Apollo 8 Flight Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=February 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206092307/https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/22day6_maroon_splash.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As the module hit the thin outer atmosphere, the crew noticed that it was becoming hazy outside as glowing [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] formed around the spacecraft.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=40}} The spacecraft started slowing down, and the deceleration peaked at {{convert|6|g0}}. With the computer controlling the descent by changing the [[Flight dynamics (fixed-wing aircraft)|attitude]] of the spacecraft, Apollo{{nbsp}}8 rose briefly like a skipping stone before descending to the ocean. At {{convert|30000|ft|km}}, the drogue parachute deployed, stabilizing the spacecraft, followed at {{convert|10000|ft|km}} by the three main parachutes. The spacecraft splashdown position was officially reported as {{Coord|8|8|N|165|1|W|name=Apollo 8 estimated splashdown}} in the North Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii at 15:51:42 UTC on December 27, 1968.<ref name="MissionReport" />

[[File:Ap8-S68-56310.jpg|thumb|Command module on the deck of {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}}]]

When the spacecraft hit the water, the parachutes dragged it over and left it upside down, in what was termed Stable{{nbsp}}2 position. As they were buffeted by a {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=on}} swell, Borman vomited, waiting for the three flotation balloons to right the spacecraft.{{sfn|Kluger|2017|p=277}} About six minutes after splashdown, the command module was righted into a normal apex-up (Stable 1) orientation by its inflatable bag uprighting system.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=40}} The first [[frogman]] from [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}} arrived 43 minutes after splashdown. Forty-five minutes later, the crew was safe on the flight deck of the ''Yorktown''.<ref name="splashdown1" />{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=40}}