As NASA’s Moon rocket thundered into the Space Coast sky, it heralded a renewed era of human exploration. The agency’s Artemis II mission begins an effort to learn how to live and work on another world in preparation for pioneering missions to Mars. During the 10-day flight, the four-person crew will circle around the Earth’s neighbor, traveling farther away than any astronauts during the Apollo Program of the 1960s and 1970s.
In December 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to leave Earth orbit and head for the Moon. They also became the first to look back at their home planet and see the entire world in one glimpse. The view they shared had an everlasting impact. In the decades since humans have looked back at their home planet from the vantage point of space, astronauts have taken stunning photographs providing a new perspective of Earth and its place in the universe.
On Dec. 21, 1968, NASA’s Mission Control gave the crew of Apollo 8 approval for TLI — trans-lunar injection — permission to become the first humans to leave Earth orbit. Their destination, 234,000 miles away, was the Moon.