Time Looks Back on Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the first manned space mission to leave Earth’s gravitational pull and enter that of another body- the moon. It was the the first manned mission to use the still impressive Saturn V rocket, and was the first time humans saw the dark side of the moon. Circling the moon 10 times, the mission hosted several television specials from space and took the first photo of the whole Earth from space. Time named the three men aboard (Mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders) “Men of the Year” in 1968.

Today, Time published a photo gallery covering the mission, including the reactions of the men’s wives when the craft returned to Earth safely. Really impressive stuff.