Exclusive Photos From NBC Studio 8H: Apollo 8 News Headquarters
Exclusive Photos From NBC Studio 8H: Apollo 8 News Headquarters
The First Moon Mission: Part 1
Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the Apollo space program, was the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, reach the Moon and orbit it. This mission gave us the instantly famous “earth rise” photo. The three man crew was Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. Their closely followed mission took place at Christmas time, launching on December 21, 1968 and returning on the 27th.
While on Christmas holiday, NBC cameraman Bob Batsche stopped in to wish some friends happy holidays and thankfully took his camera with him. These are the first three of a dozen that I will post here. More details are on the photos, so please click there and share these amazing, never before seen images.
This is 1999 NBC News article on the astronauts discovery of the “earth rise” and how they scrambled to get color pictures of it on their last orbit of the moon. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077909/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/genesis-apollo-s-earthrise/#.UxhErPldWSo
I was 11 years old and riveted to my TV for this and many space missions.
This not only chronicles a brilliant chapter in broadcasting but a time in America when we imagined the impossible and then went out and did out. Thanks for sharing.