[Apollo 8]

Directly from the Estate of Chuck Friedlander, NASA

A LUNAR ORBIT FLOWN PATCH FROM THE APOLLO 8 MISSION, THE FIRST HUMANS TO THE MOON 

Known as the first mission in which humanity could see planet Earth from space, Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon. The red “8’ on the patch notes the mission number as well as the translunar and transearth trajectories of the spacecraft. Apollo 8 flown items are exceedingly rare. The present lunar orbit flown patch is presented together with the famed Earthrise photograph to their friend and former colleague Chuck Friedlander.  

Chuck Friedlander served as Chief at the NASA Astronaut Support Office, KSC from 1963-1967, leaving shortly after the Apollo 1 tragedy for CBS News where he was Walter Cronkite’s Space Technical Consultant from 1967-1969. Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took the famous Earthrise image seen here, was personally friends with Friedlander and invited him to join him in Washington as Anders’ Executive Assistant when he served as Executive Secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC) at the White House, from 1969-1972.