DESC: After one of the most tumultuous and divisive years in U.S. history, Americans were united in awe at the televised sight of Apollo 8 orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968. The first manned spacecraft to leave the Earth's stratosphere, Apollo 8 was the definitive leap forward in NASA's frenzied race to beat the Soviet Union to the moon. This episode of PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE series recounts Apollo 8's dazzling achievement through remarkable archival footage and interviews with 1960s-era astronauts, journalists, and historians for an eyewitness view of history.