Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned safely
to Earth after an historic six-day journey.

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

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

From left Astronauts Borman, Anders and Lovell
after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean and
being recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.            
           

                           

THE FIRST IMAGE TAKEN BY HUMANS OF THE
WHOLE EARTH on December 22. 

Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were last 2 individuals to walk on the moon as of today.

The U.S.-crewed spaceflight to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972, was
known as Apollo 17 — also known as the final flight of the
Apollo program.

This particular spaceflight included two historic astronauts:
Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

These Apollo 17 astronauts would become — on this day in
history, Dec. 11, 1972 — the last humans to walk on the moon
thus far. 

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the
first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on its third mission. It was the first night
launch of a space shuttle, and many people stayed up late to
watch the spacecraft roar up from Cape Canaveral, Florida,
at 2:32 a.m.

The Challenger spent six days in space, during which time Bluford
and his four fellow crew members launched a communications
satellite for the government of India, made contact with an errant communications satellite, conducted scientific experiments, and
tested the shuttle’s robotic arm.

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. will be 81  years old, November 22.

TIM MAGUIRE

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)

The crew, which included Fred Haise( left), Jim Lovell
(middle) and Jack Swigert (right).

With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar
spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey
to the moon, safely returned to Earth on April 17, 1970.

On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was
launched from Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell,
John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed
for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon.

However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000
miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the
spacecraft. Swigert reported to mission control on Earth,
“Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered
that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light and water
had been disrupted.

The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and
controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency
procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon,
looped around it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.