With astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders, Apollo 8 blasted off toward the moon on December 21, 1968. Their mission was the first manned spacecraft to reach the moon, orbit it, and then return home.
This endeavor included several historically-significant events, one of which was actually setting eyes on the far side of the moon.
While orbiting the moon, Anders saw something awe-inspiring outside his window: the Earth came into full view as if rising like the sun. He took the iconic photograph that he named “Earthrise”.
Apollo 8 reached the moon on Christmas Eve. As they settled into the first-ever manned orbit around the moon, the astronauts shared a Christmas message with a live audience. They read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis from the Bible and then closed with “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth.”
The crew returned safely to “the good Earth” on December 27, 1968.
Items in our catalog that relate the story of NASA, the Apollo program, the moon, and space exploration: