Video: 'Apollo 8 CBS' (Apollo 8 launches on video #5 at 6:09)

(Saturday, December 21, 1968, 12:51:00 UTC) — The three astronauts of Apollo 8 — Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders — were launched this morning from Cape Kennedy, Florida, to become the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Earth’s Moon, orbit it and return safely to Earth.