Apollo 7 liftoff

The Apollo 7 mission lifts off in October 1968, propelled by a Saturn 1B rocket at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 34 en route to 11 days in orbit around the Earth. Two months later, the Apollo 8 crew would head aloft from Launch Pad 39A aboard the big Saturn V rocket -- 363 feet tall, versus 224 feet for the Saturn 1B -- en route to the first-ever manned orbit of the moon.