[Apollo 8] — Liftoff. Color photograph, signed and inscribed by Command Module Pilot James Lovell

[Apollo 8]

Liftoff

Color photograph, 16 x 20 in., SIGNED and INSCRIBED in black ink by Command Module Pilot James Lovell: "Jim Lovell / Apollo 8 / CMP."

This striking image captures the Saturn V rocket during liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968, at 12:51:00 UTC. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission in the Apollo program, and the first mission to orbit the Moon. After traveling to the Moon for 68 hours, the mission orbited the Moon ten times in twenty hours. Upon return, the astronauts were named Time magazine's "Men of the Year".