154. [Apollo 8] THE HISTORIC FIRST LAUNCH OF HUMANS TO ANOTHER WORLD Ralph Morse, 21 December 1968 Printed 1968-1969. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-68-56002]. Numbered "NASA S-68-56002" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context This powerful photograph captures the historic liftoff of Apollo 8, the first human mission to leave Earth and journey to another world. As the colossal Saturn V rocket roars skyward from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Centre, at 7:51 a.m. EST on December 21, 1968, a crescent Moon eerily looms in the background—a symbolic destination for the three astronauts aboard: Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders. This image embodies the dawn of deep-space human exploration, the first step toward fulfilling the dreams of countless generations—to voyage to another world. Apollo 8 was the first crewed flight of the mighty Saturn V, a rocket designed to carry astronauts to the Moon. For the first time in history, humans would break free from Earth's gravitational grasp and orbit another celestial body. The photograph evokes the immense scale of this moment—the fiery propulsion of 7.5 million pounds of thrust sending humanity beyond its home planet for the first time. "The Saturn V was an enormous machine. And the size of the engines?! [...] I think I felt that more going up the morning of the launch. Because it was so quiet, nobody around it. [...] I don't want to say awe, a combination of admiration—yeah, maybe awe. Wonderment." —Frank Borman (Chaikin, Voices, p. 20) Literature LIFE, 10 January 1969, p. 22 (variant)