 The mission was the most widely covered by the media since the first American orbital flight , Mercury @-@ Atlas 6 by John Glenn in 1962 . There were 1200 journalists covering the mission , with the BBC coverage being broadcast in 54 countries in 15 different languages . The Soviet newspaper Pravda featured a quote from Boris Nikolaevich Petrov , Chairman of the Soviet Interkosmos program , who described the flight as an " outstanding achievement of American space sciences and technology " . It is estimated that a quarter of the people alive at the time saw — either live or delayed — the Christmas Eve transmission during the ninth orbit of the Moon . The Apollo 8 broadcasts won an Emmy Award , the highest honor given by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . 
