Apollo 8 Astronauts Mark 40th Anniversary of Moon Mission

[ddeclue]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/12/22/apollo8.anniversary/index.html

(CNN) -- Forty years ago this week, three men in a tiny spacecraft slipped their earthly bonds and traveled where no one else had before, circling the moon 10 times and bringing back an iconic image of a blue-and-white Earth in the distance, solitary but bound as one against the black vastness beyond.

"We were flying to the moon for the first time," said Jim Lovell, one of the three astronauts aboard the historic flight. "Seeing the far side of the moon for the first time. Coming around and seeing the Earth as it really is -- a small fragile planet with a rather normal star, our sun."

But beyond the monumental aspects of such a scientific achievement, the feat was a major psychological and emotional boost for many Americans at the end of a particularly bad year in U.S. history.

[wyldwolf]

1. Anyone remember 'Sleeping Satellite' by Tasmine Archer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOfl07FSoU

Never could tell if it was anti or pro space exploration.

[whistler162]

2. How can they celebrate something that never happened?

JK

[azmouse]

3. I had the pleasure of meeting Capt Lovell a few years ago.

He gave a great speech about the Apollo missions. I followed those missions when I was just a little girl in the '60s.

If anyone wants to read a good book about Apollo I'd recommend Andrew Chaikin's book A Man On The Moon.