Not many people can say they celebrated Christmas orbiting the Moon, but William Anders, James Lovell and Frank Borman can.
Launching on a Saturn V rocket from Launch Complex 39A on the 21st December 1968, the crew were sent off towards our neighbour, the Moon. It took three days to travel to the Moon, where they inserted into lunar orbit on Christmas Eve.
The mission was a major milestone towards sending humans to the surface of the Moon. The crew became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, the first to directly see the far side of the Moon, and the first to witness Earthrise.
In terms of iconic space photography, Earthrise ranks pretty highly. The photo, taken by William Anders, shows Earth just above the lunar landscape below, a perspective that had not been seen with this clarity before.
Launching on a Saturn V rocket from Launch Complex 39A on the 21st December 1968, the crew were sent off towards our neighbour, the Moon. It took three days to travel to the Moon, where they inserted into lunar orbit on Christmas Eve.
The mission was a major milestone towards sending humans to the surface of the Moon. The crew became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, the first to directly see the far side of the Moon, and the first to witness Earthrise.
In terms of iconic space photography, Earthrise ranks pretty highly. The photo, taken by William Anders, shows Earth just above the lunar landscape below, a perspective that had not been seen with this clarity before.
On Christmas day in 1968 the Apollo 8 crew performed the transearth injection, putting the capsule back into Earth’s orbit and putting it on course for re-entry a few days later. At 15:51 UTC on the 27th December the crew splashed down in the Pacific ocean to the delight of millions watching worldwide. Apollo 8 showed the world that America was almost ready to land humans on the lunar surface.