Completed · Success
First crewed mission to orbit the Moon. Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders completed ten lunar revolutions, six live television broadcasts, and a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Saturn 5
- Launch site
- Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Orbiter, Crewed
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Apollo 8 launched
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 00:00:00.7 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
EarthOrbit insertion
Earth parking orbit insertion
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 00:11:35.0 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
EarthDeparture
Translunar injection ignition
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 02:50:37.1 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Translunar injection cutoff
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 02:55:55.5 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Deployment
Spacecraft separated from the S-IVB
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 03:20:59.3 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Apollo 8 S-IVB separated from the spacecraft
Adamo Table 1 gives CSM/S-IVB separation at 16:11:59 GMT; Table 2 defines the nominal stage initial state at 16:11:59.3 GMT. Historical GMT-to-UTC realization is unresolved.
EarthMilestone
First separation maneuver
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 03:40:01 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Second separation maneuver
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 04:45:01 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Finite post-TLI S-IVB propulsive accelerations began
Adamo Table 1 gives the acceleration start. The nominal model replaces these accelerations with an impulse at 18:16 GMT; no trajectory states are published through the finite-burn interval.
EarthMilestone
Finite post-TLI S-IVB propulsive accelerations ended
Adamo Table 1 gives the acceleration end. Supported coasts stop at 17:46:55 and resume at 18:29:35 GMT, leaving the documented interval unsupported.
EarthMilestone
First midcourse correction ignition
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 10:59:59.5 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
First midcourse correction cutoff
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 11:00:01.9 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Second midcourse correction
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 60:59:56 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Orbit insertion
Lunar orbit insertion ignition
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 69:08:20.4 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
MoonMilestone
Lunar orbit insertion cutoff
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 69:12:27.3 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Flyby
Apollo 8 S-IVB lunar pericynthion
Adamo Table 1 reports S-IVB pericynthion at 10:49:55 GMT on December 24, with altitude 1,261 km. This encounter is a reconstruction constraint, not an independently published state vector.
MoonMilestone
Lunar orbit circularization ignition
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 73:35:07 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Lunar orbit circularization cutoff
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 73:35:16 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Departure
Transearth injection ignition
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 89:19:16.6 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Transearth injection cutoff
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 89:22:40.3 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Third midcourse correction
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 103:59:54 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Command module separated from service module
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:28:48 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Entry interface at 400000 feet
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:46:12.8 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
EarthMilestone
Entry communications blackout began
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:46:37 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Milestone
Entry communications blackout ended
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:51:42 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Deployment
Drogue parachutes deployed
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:54:47.8 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Deployment
Main parachutes deployed
Original Table 3-I, physical PDF pages 12–13, elapsed time 146:55:38.9 after 1968-12-21T12:51:00Z. Source fractional seconds and time convention are retained in apollo-h-lifecycle.json.
Landing
Apollo 8 splashed down
The main mission report Table 3-I gives 147:00:42 GET (15:51:42 GMT). Supplement 1 Table 3.1-1 gives 146:59:49 GET (15:50:49 GMT), a retained 53-second source conflict; NASA NSSDCA's 15:51:42 UT matches the main report.
Earth
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Apollo 8 · Spacecraft
Destinations: Moon
Apollo 8 S-IVB-503 · Other
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Apollo 8 S-IVB-503: Reconstructed · December 21, 1968 to December 31, 1968
- Apollo 8 Command and Service Module: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data. Seven bounded lunar coast arcs; source clock, inertial epoch and model residual limitations are recorded with the states. · December 24, 1968 to December 25, 1968
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 13, 2026
- Apollo 8 - NASA NSSDCA Spacecraft Details — NSSDCAArchive · Supports: mission claims
- Apollo 8 Mission Report — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Apollo 8 Earthrise visualization and trajectory description — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- Apollo 8 Mission Report Supplement 1: Trajectory Reconstruction and Postflight Analysis, Volume I — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Earth Departure Trajectory Reconstruction of Apollo Program Components Undergoing Disposal in Interplanetary Space — OTHERPaper · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- JPL Horizons Apollo 8 S-IVB-503 reconstructed trajectory vectors — JPLEphemeris · Supports: mission claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context