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Apollo 7, launched on October 11, 1968, marked a pivotal moment in NASA's Apollo program, signifying a triumphant return to manned spaceflight following the tragic Apollo 1 mission. As the first manned mission of the Apollo program, it played a critical role in testing the Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) under real spaceflight conditions. Commanded by Walter M. Schirra, with astronauts Donn F. Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham as crew, Apollo 7 orbited the Earth for 11 days, providing essential data on the performance and safety of the CSM. The mission's success was fundamental in establishing the confidence and technical reliability needed for subsequent lunar missions, including the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.