- [Narrator] In 1968, American Astronaut, William Anders

spent Christmas Eve a long way from home.

But he brought back a gift that changed

how we see the world.

History Honors 250.

NASA's Apollo 8 mission

served as a kind of scouting expedition

for potential lunar landing sites.

Astronauts Anders,

Frank Borman

and James Lovell Jr.

traveled nearly 580,000 miles in just over six days

and made history as the first humans to orbit the moon.

The trio viewed a perspective of our planet

never seen before.

And Anders reach for a camera to capture

what he later compared to being in a darkened room

with only one visible object.

In an era of activism,

this image of earth, isolated, fragile and beautiful

was credited with raising environmental awareness

of our shared home.

Just 16 months later, on April 22nd, 1970,

the inaugural Earth Day was celebrated.

[bright music]