On Dec. 21, 1968, NASA launched the Apollo 8 mission, whose objective was to circle the Moon and safely return.
The crew, commanded by Frank Borman, included the Lunar Module Pilot William Anders and the Command Module Pilot James Lovell Jr. Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to leave an orbit around the Earth. Embarking on such a journey turned out to be a week-long commitment. However, to be the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes was surely a fair reward.
Launching from Kennedy Space Center, the monstrous Saturn V took off with more than 7.5 million pounds of thrust. At the time, the three-stage moon rocket was by a large margin the most powerful rocket ever developed. Five F-1 engines powered the first stage for roughly 2 1/2 minutes before stage separation. The second stage consists of five smaller J-2 engines burning for around six minutes. The third and final stage would take these astronauts to the Moon’s orbit and back to Earth.
Apollo 8 was the first crewed Apollo mission to visit the moon. This demonstration proved to NASA and the public that a moon landing was possible. All mission objectives were met. This was a huge success, a stepping stone for the later, more ambitious missions. Without Apollo 8, the entire Apollo program would be pushed back years.
This information was gathered from nasa.gov.
