I have to admit, Apollo 8 was one of the most on awe inspiring things I had ever seen. Hearing the astronauts reading from the book of Genesis makes me tear up.
I got a chance to hear all of the living Apollo astronauts on stage at the same time at Oshkosh Wisconsin back in 1994, which was the 25th anniversary of the moon landing.
The stories were hilarious... I remember them laughing at frank Borman because of his “gas” problem, although Jim Lovell made a remark that was not so funny at the time!
I also recall them talking about orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, and as they came around the dark side of the and saw the earth rise for the 1st time, they were all entranced and sat there gaping at it until somebody realized that it was a historic moment and they all began scuttling around trying to get the cameras!
One thing that was pretty cool about that, as they were lecturing us in the open-air pavilion near the runway, it was dark because the sun had already gone down, and there was a great big huge roar behind us. Everyone turned around to look as the astronauts were talking in mid-sentence, and we saw a Concorde take off with all 4 engines in full after burner, sharp conical blue flames coming out the back of each engine exclamation!
You would think the astronauts would be irritated that everybody just started ignoring them in mid-sentence, but 1 of the astronauts said “That is OK, everybody turn around and take a look... We are watching too!”
Here were men who had traveled to the outer space and to the moon, flew combat missions in jet fighters, but the little aviation enthusiast Boy in each of them loved seeing the flames come out the back of that plane taking off!
The most vivid and emotional moment of live TV I have ever experienced. The hair on the back of my neck still stands up and my eyes water every time I see a replay.
The “Earth Rise” photo taken by the crew is one of the most beautiful & moving photos I’ve seen. it’s Framed & hanging in the den.