Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was a manned mission of the Apollo space program. Apollo 8 was the first mission that took people beyond earth orbit, and the first time anyone was closer to another celestial body than they were to Earth. After orbiting the earth, the spacecraft orbited the Moon and then returned safely.
- Launched: December 21, 1968
- Returned: December 27, 1968
- Crew members: Frank Borman, commander; Jim Lovell, command module pilot; William A. Anders, lunar module pilot
- On Christmas morning, the crew read aloud the creation story from the book of Genesis; the reading was broadcast worldwide.
- Famous photos were taken of the earth rising over the surface of the moon.
| Preceded by : Apollo 7 |
Apollo program | Followed by : Apollo 9 |
