OTD In Space - December 21: Apollo 8 Launches to the Moon

On Dec. 21, 1968, NASA’s Apollo 8 mission launched to the moon.

Apollo 8 was the second crewed mission in NASA’s Apollo program. It was also the first mission to bring humans to the moon. It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Saturn V rocket. This was the first time that a Saturn V launched with people on board. In the Apollo Command Module were astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders. The astronauts didn't land on the moon, but they flew in circles around it for a full day. While in orbit, Bill Anders snapped a photo of Earth that he called "Earthrise," and this remains one of the most famous photographs ever taken during the Apollo program. This was also the first time anyone had seen planet Earth in its entirety from space.