The Apollo8 spacecraft splashed down in darkness at 10:51:42 UTC (05:51:42 EST) on Friday, December 27. Borman had argued for this; a daylight landing would have required orbiting the Moon at least twelve times, and Borman did not think this was necessary. When the spacecraft hit the water, Borman did not flick the switch to release the parachutes quickly enough. They dragged the spacecraft over and left it upside down. In this position, the flashing light beacon could not be seen by the recovery helicopters. Borman inflated the bags in the nose of the spacecraft, which then righted itself. Mission ground rules required a daylight recovery, so the crew had to wait 45 minutes until local sunrise before the frogmen could open the hatches. Borman became seasick and threw up, and was glad when he could be taken on board the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier .