155. [Apollo 8] HUMANITY'S FIRST DEPARTURE TO ANOTHER WORLD NASA, 21 December 1968 Printed 1968. Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image 108-KSC-.68PC-318]. With NASA numbered "108-KSC-.68PC-318" and "68-HC-843" on the reverse (issued by NASA Kennedy Space Centre, Florida). 25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.) Historical context Originally scheduled to test the Lunar Module in Earth orbit, the mission was restructured when the LM was not ready to fly. Instead, NASA made the bold decision to send Apollo 8's crew—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders (pictured in that order leaving the crew quarters at Kennedy Space Centre to board the spacecraft)—on humanity's first journey beyond Earth's gravitational influence. They became the first astronauts to ride the colossal Saturn V rocket into space, escape Earth's gravity, and orbit the Moon before returning home. "It was an exploration mission. We took the human intellect and the human vision, the human mind, 240,000 miles away from its home. That was the importance. Whether we found a rock there or not was of no importance." —Frank Borman (Chaikin, Voices, p. 184)