On Christmas morning, Apollo 8 left its lunar orbit and began
its journey back to Earth, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean
on on this day in 1968 after an historic six-day journey.

On December 21, Apollo 8 was launched by a three-stage
Saturn 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, astronauts
Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders were
aboard.     
   

On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around
the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.