Jim Lovell made his Santa announcement in the last minutes of Christmas Eve 1968, as he and his two crewmates crackled back into radio contact with Earth after they rounded the far side of the moon, becoming the first humans to orbit our celestial neighbor. Although Lovell is widely remembered as commander of the nearly disastrous Apollo 13 mission (Tom Hanks played him in the 1995 movie), he says he believes Apollo 8 had deeper historical significance. Lovell, 71, who recently became a restaurant proprietor, plans a return to exploration on Jan. 2, when he begins a scientific expedition to Antarctica.