He was part of the Apollo 8 crew, alongside Frank Borman and William Anders, that were the first humans to see the far side of the moon. As they travelled behind it, their view of Earth disappeared and radio contact failed. They experienced an isolation from humanity and home that we can barely dare to imagine. They made multiple orbits. On the 4th, with their spacecraft positioned differently, they witnessed “Earthrise” (and Anders took the famous photo). Lovell was mesmerised by covering the entirety of our planet with his thumb. Lovell’s trip in Apollo 13 had more drama, but Apollo 8, in my opinion, is more worthy of contemplation. I highly recommend reading up on all the Apollo astronauts. I remember “Moondust” by Andrew Smith being very good. Might be time for me to reread it.