Saturn Apollo Program

Apollo 8 Astronaut and commander Frank Borman leads the way as he and James Lovell, Command Module (CM) pilot; and William Anders, Lunar Module (LM) Pilot head out to the launch pad for the historical first manned Apollo mission to travel to the lunar vicinity, and first manned mission launched via the Saturn V vehicle. Liftoff occurred on December 21, 1968 and returned safely to Earth on December 27, 1968. The mission achieved operational experience and tested the Apollo command module systems, including communications, tracking, and life-support, in cis-lunar space and lunar orbit, and allowed evaluation of crew performance on a lunar orbiting mission. The crew photographed the lunar surface, both far side and near side, obtaining information on topography and landmarks as well as other scientific information necessary for future Apollo landings. All systems operated within allowable parameters and all objectives of the mission were achieved.