al.com: News: "Apollo 8 launched lunar exploration 35 years ago with help of Saturn V
12/21/03
By SHELBY G. SPIRES
Times Aerospace Writer, shelbys@htimes.com

Thirty-five years ago today three men were launched by the Saturn V rocket on the first leg of what many believe is still humanity's grandest voyage -the trip to the moon.
Apollo 8 was lofted toward the moon by the Huntsville-designed Saturn V rocket Dec. 21, 1968, carrying astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders. The crew orbited the moon 10 times on Christmas Eve and before returning home, splashing down Dec. 27, 1968.
It also was the first time men had ridden the massive Saturn V rocket and left Earth's orbit. "
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