... Earth Satellites . ... This was the lunar odyssey of Apollo 8тАЩs crew. ... However the mission only orbited Earth and was carried into space not by the Saturn 5 moonrocket but by its much smaller sibling, the Saturn 1B. The Moon seemed as far away as ever. ... Borman ended the broadcast with the words тАЬAnd from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, and a Merry Christmas to all of you, all of you on the good EarthтАЭ. ... Tweets that mention Apollo 8's Christmas space odyssey ...