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 Lim 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.
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."
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