[Apollo 8]

A U.S. FLAG FLOWN ON HUMANITY'S FIRST TRIP TO THE MOON

Apollo 8 was the second crewed mission of the Apollo program and marked a pivotal escalation of the Space Race. From December 21-28 of 1968, the crew, comprised of Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, became the first three humans to fly to the Moon, successfully executing a trans-lunar injection, before entering the lunar orbit, and orbiting the celestial body for 20 hours. 

When the Apollo 8 spacecraft came out from behind the Moon, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders witnessed an "Earthrise" for the first time in human history.  It was Anders who first saw the Earth cresting the lunar horizon. Initially, he took a black and white photo, but then asked Lovell for color film. Anders' color photograph of the Moon was chosen by Life magazine as one of its one hundred photographs that changed the world.