Apollo 8, December 1968. From lunar orbit, the crew watched Earth rise above the Moon’s horizon and captured one of the most important views in human history, our entire planet hanging in space. Follow @spaceeves #Apollo8 #Earthrise #SpaceHistory #NASA | SpaceEve

On Dec. 16, 1962, NASA launched the Explorer 16 spacecraft to study micrometeoroids near Earth. Space History Archives👉https://space-com.visitlink.me/SZfKcV The mission would determine how likely it would be for spacecraft to get damaged by the small space rocks and dust particles around the Earth, The cylindrically shaped spacecraft measured about 6 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. It carried instruments that could detect when meteoroids hit the spacecraft and assess the resulting damage. Dat

On Dec. 17, 2012, NASA's GRAIL mission crashed into the moon. Space History Archives👉 https://space-com.visitlink.me/vCwcJE GRAIL stands for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, and the mission consisted of two twin spacecraft named Ebb and Flow that are about the size of a washer and dryer. They orbited the moon in tandem to map the moon's gravity field.The mission lasted about nine months, and they even completed an extended mission before the spacecraft began to run low on fuel, so NASA