On Christmas Eve, the astronauts of Apollo 8 delivered a live telecast from the orbiter, reading from the Book of Genesis. The historic moment included the words, “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.” The telecast concluded with the crew wishing a good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God’s blessing to everyone on Earth.
The crew, consisting of Lovell and Borman, had already flown together during the Gemini 7 mission in 1965. Borman described Gemini as a tough mission, with the spacecraft being smaller than the front seat of a Volkswagen bug. In his autobiography, he revealed that Apollo 8 was initially meant to orbit Earth, but NASA’s success in the Apollo 7 mission led them to decide to fly to the moon.
However, Borman also stated that NASA’s eagerness to beat the Russians was another reason for the change in plans. His priority was to get to the moon ahead of the Russians and return home safely. It was on the crew’s fourth orbit that Anders captured the iconic “Earthrise” photo, showing the Earth rising above the lunar landscape.
Borman later wrote about the emotional experience of seeing the Earth from afar, expressing a shared sense of wonder and awe at the sight. He believed that they were witnessing the world as God sees it. This historic mission marked a significant achievement for NASA and provided a profound and emotional experience for the crew of Apollo 8.
I have over 10 years of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and I have been on the list of the top authors on LinkedIn for the past 5 years. I have a wealth of knowledge to share with my readers, and my goal is to help them navigate the ever-changing world of cryptocurrencies.
