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
Apollo 4 the first mission to fly under the official Apollo mission numbering scheme approved by Mueller on April 24, 1967. Since the failed first manned flight had been designated Apollo 1 in honor of the crew widows' wishes, and three unmanned Apollo/Saturn IB flights had already occurred, Mueller resumed the numbering sequence at Apollo 4. The vehicle's on-pad, pre-launch tests and preparation practice started in September, and encountered several problems with propellant loading and various equipment failures. These pushed the launch into November, but provided valuable lessons learned on the new vehicle. By this time, North American had been purchased by