NASA is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8, the first flight to Moon

The Apollo 8 spacecraft became the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Bill Anders and Jim Lovell entered lunar orbit on December 24 they took this famous image called "Earthrise". Credit: NASA

Fifty years ago on Dec. 21, 1968, Apollo 8 launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center at 7:51 a.m. EST. Frank Borman commanded the crew of the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. James Lovell served as command module pilot and William Anders was the lunar module pilot. Apollo 8 was the first crewed Saturn V launch. 

Apollo 8 Commander Col. Frank Borman leads the way as he, and fellow astronauts Command Module Pilot Capt. James A Lovell Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Maj. William A. Anders head to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA

Apollo 8 was supposed to be a test flight to simulate atmospheric re-entry from the Moon but never meant to go there. But then the Soviet Union successfully launched two successful uncrewed lunar missions -- Zond 5 and 6 and NASA's plans changed. The rest, as they say, is history. 

1968 was indeed a complicated year with riots and protest in relationship with the Vietnam war and of course the assassination of Kennedy, suddenly the heroics of the Moon program didn’t seem to be in fashion, however the three Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis on live TV as they orbited the moon, and of course the famous “Earthrise” view changed that, our planet seen at 386 million kilometres in the distance. 

Fifty years ago on Dec. 21, 1968, Apollo 8 launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center at 7:51 a.m. EST. Credit: NASA

This is to the day considered the boldest and perhaps most dangerous undertaking of NASA, it was the first times we, humans, have left our home for another world, of course seven months later the Apollo 11 moon landing stole the show, but without this daring Apollo 8 mission that may have never been possible, especially since the Russians were closing in for the race to the moon. The risks were enormous, as it was the monstrous new rocket to send astronauts to the moon, a mission that was whipped together in just four months in order to reach the moon by year's end, and beat the Soviet Union. 

Series of views of the receding Earth taken by Apollo 8 astronauts during the translunar coast, including the first ever taken of the whole Earth in a single frame (third from left). Credit: NASA

The Apollo 8 crew astronauts are still around, Frank Borman and James A. Lovell are both 90 and William A. Anders is 85. James Lovell sees the journey with the thrill and romance of real exploration, something that provided a relieve to an eventful and painful year indeed, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and of course the nationwide protests of the Vietnam War. Perhaps this mission “saved that year” and indeed for many at NASA, especially for the people still around, this accomplishment is perhaps one if not the best accomplishment of the agency. 

Apollo 8 crew from left to right: Command Module pilot James A. Lovell, Lunar Module pilot William A. Anders, and Mission Commander Frank Borman. Credit: NASA

Equipo de Apolo 8 de izquierda a derecha: el piloto del Módulo de Comando James A. Lovell, el piloto del Módulo Lunar William A. Anders y el Comandante de la Misión Frank Borman. Crédito: NASA

Left: View of Mission Control during the second TV broadcast on Dec. 23, with the Earth displayed on the large wall screen. Right: Valerie Anders (middle), wife of Apollo 8 astronaut Anders, visits the Mission Control gallery, with backup Apollo 8. Commander Neil Armstrong (right). Credit: NASA

The Far Side. Photo taken from Apollo 8 during the 1968 mission on their first approach to the Moon. Credits: NASA

In December of 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to leave our home planet and travel to another body in space. But as crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders all later recalled, the most important thing they discovered was Earth. Using photo mosaics and elevation data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), this video commemorates Apollo 8's historic flight by recreating the moment when the crew first saw and photographed the Earth rising from behind the Moon. Narrator Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man on the Moon," sets the scene for a three-minute visualization of the view from both inside and outside the spacecraft accompanied by the onboard audio of the astronauts. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Source: NASA,