Apollo 8 launched 40 years ago today. This was to be the first time humans would ever orbit the moon and laid the foundation for the Apollo 11 Landing in July 1969.
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Believe it or not, Apollo 8 was also the most dangerous of the Apollo missions to the moon. All of the future missions took with them a lunar module (the spider bit that landed on the moon) while Apollo 8 simply took a test device of the same weight. During Apollo 13, the lunar module ended up being used as a life raft for power.
The astronauts of Apollo 8 achieved a speed of 10,822 metres per second (38,959 Km per hour) during their trip to the moon.
They also took the following legendary photo:
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Lets home Obama doesn’t pull the plug on the moon visits planned for 2020.
More information on Apollo 8 is available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8.