Dragon Models 1/400 Apollo 7, Saturn IB
Apollo 7 (October 11-22, 1968) was the first manned mission of Project Apollo, and the first manned US space mission launched after the cabin fire which killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, Apollo 204 (later renamed Apollo 1), on January 27, 1967. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-person American space mission. The crew consisted of Mission Commander Walter M. Schirra, Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele, and Lunar Module Pilot R. Walter Cunningham.  The mission was intended as the first manned test of the redesigned Block II Apollo Command/Service Module. It flew in Earth orbit so the crew could check life-support, propulsion, and control systems. The mission was a technical success, which gave NASA the confidence to launch Apollo 8 around the moon just two months later.  Apollo 7 was the only manned Apollo launch to take place from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 34, as all subsequent Apollo and Skylab missions (including Apollo-Soyuz) were launched from Launch Complex 39 at the nearby Kennedy Space Center.