(Selected MPIMS as I don’t think that this has a factual answer, though I am happy to be corrected)
While Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, he was Johnny-come-lately as far as travelling to the moon is concerned, at best seventh.
So, has it ever been established officially who was the first to go there?
The candidates are it seems
Apollo 8: Frank Borman. As commander (and pilot of the spacecraft) he seems to deserve the honour.
Apollo 8: James Lovell: Was the first one to actually sight the moon on the trip.
Apollo 10: Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan. Flew the lander very close to the surface. Stafford was commander and Cernan the pilot. Con: how much different was it from Apollo 8?
William Anders and John Young are out of luck here it seems.
My own vote is for Frank Borman.
EDIT: If its is not already obvious, yes I mean by first, the person you put on a list. No jointness allowed here.
There were 6 human beings who had, prior to Neil Armstrong, been in a situation that the moons gravity was greater than the earths. They travelled in three different craft. All orbited and 2 of them actually deorbited and entered, though they did not land.
My question is of these 6 who can be said to be first.
I have to agree with Glee here.
Where as I think I understand what you are getting at, saying someone went to the moon without landing on it is like saying, “I’m going to the movies.” but not actually entering the building. (Yes still claiming you went to the movies.)
Armstrong used to point out that he and Buzz arrived there at the same time. Nice of him, I thought. The fact that he actually stepped out first isn’t terribly important IMHO.
The Earth-Moon system might be called a binary planet system, where each body orbits the other. (Of course, the Moon orbits around a point that is within the physical Earth.)
Apollo 8 is considered the first time we sent men to the moon. It was the first mission to leave Earth orbit and enter lunar orbit. I don’t think it makes sense to limit the names to just one since they all arrived at exactly the same time - but if you absolutely must then the commander of the mission would get the honor.
As far as experiencing the moon, that honor obviously goes to Apollo 11 - Apollo 8 was equivalent to flying over a city. Technically you’ve been to the city, but until you actually step foot in it have you truly been there? This is why history will remember Neil Armstrong as the first to go to the moon even if others have some claim to the title.
I agree that Neil Armstrong was the first man to go to the moon.
Apollo 8, however, does get the distinction of having the first humans who saw the far side of the moon ‘live’ (not from photographs). If Lovell was watching the surface more intently, maybe he can be said to have been the first human to set eyes on the far side of the moon.
