Apollo 8 - Go For TLI (1969) 

Deke Slayton was a genius. He assigns the super strack Borman as commander, the unparalleled Lovell as navigator and the philosophical Anders to Apollo 8; the first class professional team of Stafford and Cernan to ensure the LM is working perfectly on Apollo 10; and assigns the ever reliable Collins as CMP, the orbital mechanics genius Aldrin as LM pilot, and the coolest, most capable pilot of the entire program, Armstrong, to put it down.

In some ways this was bigger than Apollo 11.This was the first time man had left Earth and headed toward another world.It was a giant step for the moon landing.It reached the moon on Christmas Eve and I remember thinking what a Christmas present for America.The reading from Genesis as it approached darkness and the pictures of the Earth rising from the moon's horizon. It was put on a 8 cent stamp and I still have one.

Saw this in Australia when I was 7 years old. 50 years later and mankind hasn’t achieved anything comparable to this Apollo degree.

14:29 "I think Isaac Newton is doing most of the driving right now". What a great quote! Classical mechanics was all you needed for missions to the moon and back.

I'll never forget that Christmas Eve. As always when I was young, the whole family was gathered at my grandparents' house. We were all gathered around the black-and-white TV when they read from Genesis. It touched everyone there even though most were not churchgoers.

I got to see Apollo 8 on the pad when my family visited Cape Kennedy in August 1968. I was 12 years old.

Watching this on July 20, 2019. This never gets old.

This still gives me chills. What a triumph... and hasn't been repeated in over 40 years.

For those born after Apollo, to give you a feel for what it was like to witness these Apollo telecasts, it would NOT be like if we sent a crew to Mars or another planet in our solar system and saw those pictures, but rather more like if we sent a crew to a planet in another star system around an earth-like planet and saw pictures from there. It was all so new.

This was without a doubt THE greatest adventure and exploration in the history of mankind; for me this outshines Apollo 11 by miles. These were the first humans ever to lose total contact with planet Earth when they flew around the far side of the Moon for the first time. Awesome!!!

My favorite Apollo mission! Probably my favorite space mission all together.

These three men saw with their own eyes what no one before them saw: the Earth from so far away, the far side of the moon and celebrated Christmas in lunar orbit. I often think back to Jim Lovell, who made the trip twice without being able to set foot on the lunar surface when he was supposed to be the fifth man to do so. The most important thing is that he was able to come back alive with his Apollo 13 comrades, thanks to the ingenuity of the men of the NASA and their "D" systems (stupidly different filters from Apollo and the LEM. (Cubes vs cylinders) I was 13 years old in 68 and my father could see the Man walking on our satellite (11 and 12 then the failure of 13); he was to die in November 70. I was amazed not to see any more Borman and Anders on the missions that followed, like John Young (10 and 16) Great Era for Man in space.

Truly focused, brave, intelligent and humble men.

I remember my grandfather being very excited about this mission. These are the days when America did great things and accomplished things. I don't think we'll ever see it again in our lifetime.

WOW thanks for the memories i was glued to to television when i was a kid watching this on xmas eve . What fantastic times it was .

This was a momentous day. When man first ventured far away from the Earth.

This was the greatest event that the world witnessed. I remember watching on tv.we have come a long way in history, a shaping of the world any other time in history.

This video is GOLD! Please preserve for future generations to see and appreciate how far humans have come in such a short time.

Such an amazing effort by everyone involved. It'd be great to see people come together like this again.

Apollo 8 is my favorite Apollo mission.

Outstanding video! My favorite Apollo mission. Such a bold move.

My all time favorite Apollo mission !!!!!

Loved the banter between the astronauts. "Would we land on the brown part of the Earth or the blue part?" "You'd better hope we land on the blue part!"

There were many firsts during this mission - The first time men ever rode on the gigantic Saturn V rocket, the first time men left Earth orbit, the first time men traveled farthest from home planet, the first time men ever say the far side of the moon. It was all done with perfect precision - NASA estimated the spacecraft to orbit at 69 miles above the moon which was dangerously too low for a first mission but was much needed to land men on the moon. After firing the SRS for LOI (lunar orbit insertion), they found out they were 69.9 miles above the moon surface. Such a precision it was!

When we left Earth, for the first time. Are you watching this today December 21, 2018, the 50th anniversary of this historic moment?

4:14 This was the moment when humans first saw their planet from the outside. First time someone went outside to take a picture. December, 1968.

The space program would never have been the same without Jack King and his countdowns throughout all the missions…

stunning footage again

Always loved the smoking controllers.

God bless America. I saw Apollo 11 launch and landing on moon on TV as a german boy 9 years old. God bless America.

Great times, great men :-)

It was a really important and possibly the most dangerous moon mission. Those guys were super heroes!

I was in 7th grade and a nerd. The family drove from Chicago to Miami to visit my father’s sister. My cousin took me to the cape to watch the launch. We followed all the telecasts. What an exciting time in human history and to be an American. After Neil walked on the moon I thought more great things would come. But sadly no, the nation has been on a decline ever since.

Go big or go home.. "...became the first humans to: travel beyond low Earth orbit; see Earth as a whole planet; enter the gravity well of another celestial body (Earth's moon); orbit another celestial body (Earth's moon); directly see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes; witness an Earthrise; escape the gravity of another celestial body (Earth's moon); and re-enter the gravitational well of Earth." And all that was done before lunch.

Excellent video!!! keep up the good work!

The first deep space flight with all the dangers that implies, brave men,,,,

Great video....

There was a cartoon in the (UK) Daily Express at the time of two people trying to do their christmas shopping in London. It is cold and raining hard, the streets are crowded and the shops packed. One says to the other, "You know who I vote the three wise men this Christmas? The three who hoofed it off round the back of the moon."

Awe-inspiring.

It was, indeed, the greatest adventure...

Today is January 28, 2019. It is the 33rd anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle disaster which occurred about 90 seconds after takeoff on January 28, 1986. All of the astronauts were probably alive until the intact cockpit smashed into the ocean at hundreds of miles per hour. A few of the astronauts were able to have placed oxygen masks onto their faces. Those who didn't were probably unconscious on the way down. Even those who had masks on probably became unconscious due to the spinning g-forces of the cabin falling into the ocean. Let us pray they were asleep when they hit the ocean. Thirty-three years ago today, a teacher was the first person other than a scientist who was allowed to become an astronaut during a Space Shuttle missions. Christa McAuliffe was that teacher. She had to surpass thousands of other applicants to have been chosen. But before she was selected, she had to face an interview with one particular NASA appointed scientist. His name is Dr. Richard Berendzen, Ph.D. He wrote the famous book entitled "Pulp Physics" wherein he describes his privilege of interviewing Christa for the mission. He said he was asked by NASA to interview the final applicants for the mission. It was becoming later in the evening at a local hotel ballroom where tables were set to interview applicants. Finally, Christa sat down before him. He had interviewed others but was not so impressed until he decided to bate Christa with a loaded question. He asked her something like this: "So why should a teacher be the first person other than a trained astronaut go on the Space Shuttle"? Christa humbly replied: "But don't you see, we teachers- we touch the face of the future". Dr. Berendzen was compelled to report to his committee. He said: "I think we've found the one. I believe we found our teacher who is going into space". Source: "Pulp Physics: Astronomy: Humankind in Space and time. By Dr. Richard Berendzen.

Apollo 8 = EPIC, on many levels. (Not to mention no LEM for a lifeboat, thus the Apollo 13 explosion scenario would've been certain death for Lovell, Anders, and Borman. )

That last prayer was a good one. Low sun angle/deep shadow photos of the Moon R haunting; there could B Selenites...

And 50+ years later, there has still been no machine as completely bad a$$ as a Saturn V Moon rocket. 🤟

The S4B was put in an orbit around the Sun? That I didn't know. See...you're never too old.

50 years ago people didnt make the kind of idiotic comments like some i have read in these posts. Guess thats why we had the intelligence to get to the moon.

RIP Frank Borman

What a Christmas present.

The capsule communication *_CAPCOM_* officer is *Michael Collins* the command module pilot *_CMP_* for the future Apollo 11 mission.

I'm shamed to be part of the same genome that have made the comments below.

The irony is the brother of the man who as President vowed to put a Man on the Moon in 1969 had been assassinated 6 months before this Mission, and ML King Jr 2 months before that. What a crazy time for America!

It still amazes me they did this with computers that were slower than a $1 calculator you can buy nowadays.

I love see

How fast is trans luner insertion...? Is it the fastest any humans have been in space 🚀....I'm fascinated by the cool epic journey to the moon and I will always remember seeing it on my parents color TV set when this first trip to the moon.... WOW I was so impressed as a ten years old boy then and I felt it was something to remember 👍🤠😁🙏☮️🌎

Wathing this on 13th of march 2020

There was a significant omission after 19:40. The big three rocket scientists were Goddard, Oberth, and Tsiolkovsky. Oberth, the mentor of von Braun, was overlooked.

Great computers no flaws

8 9 and 10 were practice runs. 11 was first attempted landing.

they should explain why the heat shield temperatures of 5000 Degrees stop radio communication. The disruption is due to the ionization of the atoms and gasses in the atmosphere

When starting the entrance into the earth atmosphere, it is a movie that showed the Apolo 8. How was that movie made ? Thanks so much

19:23 Buzz, Mike, & Neil

13:13 Strictly speaking, that might not have been totally true. Some problem might have been arisen that could be solved after some nervous minutes or even some hours, and the TEI could be done on a later orbit. Still, various considerations meant that they couldn't delay all that long. This was no luxury cruise.

I love this classic America voice 🥺🤍

I wonder if this narrator is Larry Burrell? He was the narrator of the movie "The Creeping Terror."

Newton is doing the deriving haha love it

4:24...Argentina y Chile.

Of course today, they could not broadcast such a biblical thing.

Verner! 😮they stood on your shoulders 😂🎉

Apollo-8, Is this First time our astronauts saw the Moon very near by ? How many feats Height ?

Hey AirBoyd, Apollo 8 was 1968.

The human eye can resolve more detail and low light than film. The film was exposed to record the spacecraft interior not the stars. The telescope on the CSM could also resolves fainter stars than even the human eye can resolve. Go out on a clear night in a city or town and look up. You'll probably see a few stars here and there but if you use binoculars or a telescope you'll see many more.

Why does the title of the video state 1969? The Apollo 8 mission occurred in December of 1968.

10.50 number 8 ?

Why did you clip out the reading of Genesis?

With the date that you show in the title it would of been after Apollo 11 when in fact it was in 1968 just letting you know that so maybe you could change it!

They gave Glory to The Father and hence Blessed the Apollo program for its entirety including Apollo 13.

Why do you have 1969 in the title when the event took place in 1968?

Apollo-8 in this Rocket u just saw the Moon near by how many Kms. height ?

Does anyone know who the narrator is? Sounds like ABC's Jules Bergman(sp?); but that is just a guess...

Not enough delta v?

That's is very important but not have a many camera's everywhere to can see why??

Disappointed that this clip cut out their Christmas reading from the Bible.

Some people are stupid enough to think that this stuff never happened. I can assure them that it did. They need to go tour Kennedy Space Center. Would change their mind.

If astronauts (US GOVT employees??) today were to somehow publicly recite the same words Apollo 8 did on Christmas Eve, it would be bleeped out at minimum and the astronaut(s) would either be fired when he/she came home or would certainly never go into space ever again. But back in 1968, it was considered a wonderful moment in time when mankind stopped all they were doing to watch and come together as one. Gosh how I miss the old days.

12:20 they read from the book of Genesis.

conclusive**

This is real stuff and today 's pupils apparently have not been made to do their homework. one reason is not enough "Tough Love".

Apollo 8 - Go For TLI (1968)

I think your title should be 1968 not ‘69

Read the description -___-"

We land on the brown parts now

There is no equivalent today.

Another AMERICAN accomplishment!!

Mighty Men; awesome God.

instead of slamming back into Earth at 27K, why didn't Apollo do an orbital burn of Earth coming back and then a burn to circularize the orbit before entry?

This would not pass the PC test of today. All white and males and smoking!!!

I am I purchased a limited edition of this from the Bradford Exchange, it’s pricey but worth the money.

The heading is incorrect. The whole Apollo 8 mission took place in December 1968, not at all in 1969.

I don't get it.

The glory years of the USA.