50 years since the launch of 1st human mission to orbit Moon
US space agency NASA had launched Apollo 8, the first-ever human mission to orbit the Moon, 50 years ago on December 21, 1968. The mission's Saturn V rocket carried astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr and William Anders. The astronauts orbited the Moon 10 times over the course of 20 hours and returned to the Earth on December 27, 1968.