NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E. Mueller summarized for his superiors launch preparation for the near-term missions Apollo 7 and Apollo 8.

- Apollo 7 - Space vehicle testing was on schedule (despite a delay in start of the flight readiness test caused by a liquid hydrogen leak due to a faulty pneumatic valve). The flight readiness test began on September 25 and went smoothly through T minus 0 two days later. Countdown for launch would begin as scheduled on October 6, leading to launch readiness on October 11.
- Apollo 8 - Both launch vehicle (503) and spacecraft (103) were several days behind schedule. CSM 103 was tested in the altitude chamber while manned by the prime and backup crews on September 20 and 22. The spacecraft was undergoing several modifications and equipment installations (including the high-gain antenna, which was delivered to KSC on September 23); KSC and contractor technicians also were making leak and functional checks on the S-II stage and subsystem checks on the S-IVB stage of the launch vehicle. Rollout of the space vehicle from the assembly building to the pad was planned for October 10.