Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing 1600 km southeast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

The crew became the first men to leave the Earth's gravitational field and the first to see the moon's far side. It was the first manned lunar orbital mission. 10 lunar orbits were performed but without the LM. During the lunar coast phase the crew made numerous landing-site and landmark sightings, took lunar photos, and prepared for the later maneuver to enter the trajectory back to the earth. Several live TV broadcasts. On Christmas Eve Commander Frank Borman read the first 10 verses of Genesis on television to earth and wished viewers "goodnight, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you - all of you on the good earth" .

Before the re-entry there was a minor error in the course hours before the scheduled splashdown in the Pacific, but that was corrected. The landing was only 2,6 km from the target point away.The Crew was recovered by "USS Yorktown".