A Very Special Christmas Eve from Space
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts; Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and Moon seen from Apollo 8. Lovell said, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis. (Click here to listen as you read)
William Anders:
"For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you".
"In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there
be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the
darkness."
Jim Lovell:
"And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the
second day."
Frank Borman:
"And God said, Let the waters under the
heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it
was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters
called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."
Borman then added, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."
About the Mission
Launched: 21 December 1968
UT 12:51:00 (7:51:00 AM EST)
Lunar Orbit: 24 December 1968
Returned to Earth: 27 December 1968 UT 15:51:42 (10:51:42 AM EST)
Mission Event List and Timeline
EVENT
DATE & TIME (EST)
MISSION TIME
Launch
December 21 07:51:00 am
00:00:00
Earth orbit insertion
08:32:35 am
00:11:35
Translunar injection
10:41:37 am
02:50:37
Lunar orbit insertion
December 24 04:59:20 am
69:08:20
Transearth injection
December 25 01:10:16 am
89:19:16
Splashdown
December 27 10:51:42 am
147:00:42
Frank Borman, commander
James A. Lovell, command module pilot
William A. Anders, lunar module pilot
