Space History Photo: Apollo 8 Recovery

U.S. Navy swimmers prepare the command module to be hoisted aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown. CREDIT: NASA. View full size image

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, a team of U.S. Navy underwater demolition swimmers prepares the Apollo 8 command module for being hoisted aboard the carrier U.S.S. Yorktown, prime recovery vessel for the initial manned lunar orbital mission. The crew members - astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders - had already egressed the spacecraft and were aboard the recovery ship at the time of this photo on Dec. 27, 1968.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).