Apollo 8 was the first mission to take humans to the Moon. Launched December 21, 1968, on the first manned Saturn V, Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders filmed the first live TV coverage of the lunar surface.

The attached is a fragment of epoxy-resin ablative heatshield removed from the exterior of the Apollo 8 Command Module. This heatshield protected the craft from burning and vaporizing during reenty.