Apollo 8 placed the mission on course for the Moon, the command and service modules (CSM), the remaining Apollo 8 spacecraft, separated from it. The crew then rotated the spacecraft to take photographs of the spent stage and then practiced flying in formation with it. As the crew rotated the spacecraft, they had their first views of the Earth as they moved away from it – this marked the first time humans had viewed the whole Earth at once. Borman became worried that the S-IVB was staying too close to the CSM and suggested to Mission Control that the crew perform a
Return of Apollo 15 to Earth which was launched using a spring-loaded mechanism, a pin in a curved groove to impart a spin in the satellite. The spinning helped to stabilise the craft. After having the information needed to burn the SPS to send them home radioed from Mission Control, "Apollo 15" disappeared behind the Moon for the last time. Igniting on time, the SPS burned for 2 minutes, 21 seconds, adding 3,050 ft/s (930 m/s) to their speed. Little was left for the crew to do on their tenth day in space. They continued to photograph the lunar surface as it receded from them, using