Forty-five years have passed since the crew of Apollo 8 orbited the moon.
On December 21, 1968, Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Andrews launched from Kennedy Space Center on the Apollo 8 mission. After one and a half Earth orbits, the crew embarked upon their translunar journey to be the first humans to orbit the moon. During the mission, the Apollo 8 crew captured “Earthrise,” one of the most iconic images in space history and successfully returned to Earth on December 27, 1968.
In 2008, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum hosted a panel with the Apollo 8 crew, who discussed the challenges of training and the events—expected and unexpected—that occurred during the mission. In addition to the full interview below are hyperlinked questions to skip to specific segments of the discussion.
What was a typical day of training like for the Apollo 8 crew?
What was the photography plan for the mission?
How did Earthrise happen? What were the circumstances?
What was the Christmas Eve broadcast like as the crew orbited the moon?
Read more about the Apollo 8 mission.
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts-Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders-held a live broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft. Said Lovell, “The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.” They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.
Featured Photo Credit: NASA
