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Launch SuccessfulNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Saturn V: Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the first flight of the mighty Saturn V launch vehicle key to human exploration of the moon. The three-astronaut crew — Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. This Mission was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.
Saturday, 21 December 1968
Mission Data
🇺🇸National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationEst. 1958
Launch VehicleSaturn V
Vehicle FamilySaturn
Vehicle Record12 of 13 launches (92.3%)
Provider TypeGovernment
Agency Record122 successes / 20 failures (86%)
Success Streak12 consecutive
ProgramApollo · Human Spaceflight
Mission TypeHuman Exploration
Target OrbitLow Earth Orbit
Launch PadLaunch Complex 39A
Location🇺🇸 Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA USA
Orbital Launches This Year#130
Agency Launches This Year#7
Launches From This Pad224
Launches From This Site283
Status Note
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
About Saturn V
The Saturn V was a human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA between 1967 and 1973. Most notably, the Saturn V took the Apollo program to the Moon. It still remains the world's tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status and is the only launch vehicle to take humans beyond LEO.
Launch Site
Launch Complex 39A · 28.6082°N 80.6043°W
Launch data from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs.