@ushistorytoday
December 25, 1968. 48 years ago. The crew of Apollo 8 leave lunar orbit and travel back to Earth after successfully becoming the first men to orbit the Moon. The crew of Apollo 8 consisting of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on December.21/1968 with the goal of circling the moon several times, testing lunar orbit equipment and checking out potential landing sites for the projected manned moon landing to occur next year in 1969. The trio were the first men, American or Soviet to leave Earth’s gravitational field and the first to ever see the dark side of the Moon personally (the dark side of the Moon was photographed by the U.S.S.R. in 1959). On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew broadcast their most famous of the six live broadcasts performed by the men over the course of the mission. During the broadcast, Borman describe the Moon as \ »vast\