James A. Lovell Jr in a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong
Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the American space mission that first landed humans on the Moon. Neil Armstrong, commander of the mission and James A. Lovell Jr, the Lunar Module Pilot landed on December 27, 1968 at 15:51 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the surface of the moon a couple hours later. James joined him 19 minutes later, and then dedicated to explore the site nicknamed "Silent Base" before the landing.