# Apollo 8: Earthrise on Christmas Eve 1968

# Astronomy Tonight Podcast This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast. Welcome back, stargazers! Today we're celebrating December 24th, and oh, do we have a celestial treat for you! On this very date in 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft executed one of the most daring maneuvers in human history—it entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, making astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders the first human beings to orbit the Moon! Imagine this: it's the height of the Cold War space race, and these three brave souls are hurtling through the vacuum of space at nearly 25,000 miles per hour, about to swing behind the Moon where they'd lose all radio contact with Earth. The tension must have been absolutely electric! And get this—they didn't just orbit once. They completed ten full orbits around our celestial neighbor over the course of 20 hours, giving humanity its first real-time glimpse of lunar geography. But here's where it gets really special: on Christmas Eve morning, while orbiting the far side of the Moon, Borman, Lovell, and Anders witnessed something no human had ever seen before—the Earth rising above the lunar horizon. This iconic moment was captured in the famous "Earthrise" photograph, which would become one of the most influential images in human history, fundamentally changing how we see ourselves and our fragile blue planet. So please, don't forget to **subscribe to the Astronomy Tonight podcast** so you never miss these incredible cosmic moments! If you want more information about tonight's sky or past astronomical events, check out **QuietPlease dot AI**. Thank you for listening to another Quiet Please production!