(10/23/1968) - The Apollo 7 astronauts, left to right, Donn F. Eisele, Walter M. Schirra Jr., and Walter Cunningham, after 12days and 4.5 million miles later, return to meet with the employees and management at Cape Kennedy. On October 11, the three astronauts were launched aboard a Saturn 1B space vehicle from Launch Pad 34 for the first manned lunar orbital mission.