Relive Man's First Launch to the Moon, 45 Years Ago Today

On December 21st, 1968, three men left earth and became the first humans to orbit the moon. Their entire journey was legendary, and even 45 years later watching Apollo 8 launch is almost heart-stopping.

Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders were the first men to leave our planet's orbit. They were the first to view the full earth, and the first to lay eyes on the far side of the moon. Their mission was the first manned flight of the immensely powerful Saturn V rocket, and a late-in-the-game mission change pushed the launch date from spring of 1969 to December 1968, robbing them of three months of training.

They still pulled it off, and during their three-day voyage to the moon, the astronauts snapped the most famous and recognizable photograph ever taken: Earthrise.

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On December 24th, while orbiting the moon, the Apollo 8 crew did a Christmas Eve TV broadcast, with readings from the Book of Genesis. It was the most-watched television event to date. After 20 hours and 10 orbits around the moon, Apollo 8 headed back to earth, and six days, 3 hours and 42 seconds after launch, the crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii. And back to life on earth.

There's something poignant about the first men to leave Earth's orbit launching on December 21st, the longest night of the year. It's as though they picked the day when the dark sky was the most expansive, the most receptive to travelers. 45 years on, it's still awe-inspiring.

H/T Jason Major for the video

Related The Saturn V is the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket humans have ever built. In 13 missions, it took 24 astronauts beyond earth's… Read…

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U.S. Stocks Down, Asian Stocks Follow the Trend today

Bearish trading is continuing in Asian trade amidst the speculation that the Fed may taper stimulus to a great extent. Earlier, in yesterday’s trading, the U.S. stocks fell which led to a fall in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. It was the first first two-day slide in three weeks. Following the trend, Asian stocks opened lower today.

Speculation on the Fed’s decision to taper stimulus is paying havoc in Asian stocks as they fell apart today and their regional benchmark index was down. This in fact has overshadowed improving China manufacturing data which had earlier boosted Asian stocks this week; however, it does not seem to have any impact now.

The major loser in today’s trading was Sony Corp. which slumped 12 percent in Tokyo.

The company which was expected to fare better has disappointed its investors as it unexpectedly lowered its full-year profit forecast by 40 percent. Similarly, Sydney Airport slumped 3.3 percent as the largest shareholder Macquarie Group Ltd. Decided to give some of its stake to fellow investors.

In the gloomy trading week, some rare performances too have come to front; one of them is Panasonic Corp. whose stocks surged 5 percent on fifth day in row. The company got its performance upped when it doubled its full-year profit forecast. Whereas Japan’s Topix index lost 1.2 percent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent. Similarly, Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.3 percent.

Facebook, Boeing, Avon Products Inc. Gains

In yesterday’s trading in the U.S. stocks market, Visa Inc. lost 3.5 percent when it failed to meet the expected returns. On the other hand, amidst the news that possible fines related to foreign bribery probes may hurt earnings, Avon Products Inc. fell 22 percent. Some star performances came from Facebook Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Boeing Co. was also trading better as its stocks advanced 0.6 percent as the company is expected to increase its production to meet the requirements for its 737 jets. However, better performances from select companies did not boost the overall outlook of the market and the S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent to 1,756.54 at 4 p.m. in New York.

Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73.01 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,545.75 and on a not so good trading day more than 7.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges which is 21 percent above the three-month average.

To contact the reporter of this story: Jonathan Millet at john@forexminute.com

Jonathan Millet is currently the proud CEO of ForexMinute.com, the brand new financial news portal which is making waves among Forex traders around the globe for the innumerable Forex resources it off...

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