Apollo 8, which launched on December 21, 1968, was the first mission to take humans to the Moon and back. While the crew did not land on the Moon's surface, the flight was an important prelude to a lunar landing, testing the flight trajectory and operations getting there and back.
Other firsts accomplished during the Apollo 8 mission included the first crewed mission launched on the Saturn V, the first crew to ascend from Launch Complex 39, NASA's new Moonport, the first humans to travel into deep space, the first pictures taken by humans of Earth from deep space, and the first live TV coverage of the lunar surface. When splashdown occurred on December 27th in the Pacific Ocean, a nearly flawless mission was complete.
Meet the Astronauts
Apollo 8 Crew
Frank Borman, Commander: Borman, who served as commander for Apollo 8, had previously served as commander for the Gemini VII mission in 1965.
James A. Lovell, Jr., Command Module Pilot: Serving as the command module pilot for Apollo 8, Lovell had also flown with Borman on the Gemini VII mission, and commanded the Gemini XII mission. He would also go on to serve as commander for the Apollo 13 mission.
William Anders, Lunar Module Pilot: Apollo 8 was Anders only flight with NASA, where he served as the Lunar Module Pilot. Apollo 8 did not carry a lunar module, but instead a Lunar Test Article, which was equivalent in weight to a lunar module. Anders took the famous Earthrise photograph shown at the top of the page.
