Remembering Apollo 8's Christmas message

Chicago SunTimes ^ | 12/18/05 | ANDREW HERRMANN

[KevinDavis]

NASA told them to say something.

And so they did.

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. . . .''

The trio of astronauts of Apollo 8, speaking from space on Christmas Eve in 1968, quoted from Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

It was, opines historian Robert Zimmerman, "the most profound Christmas prayer ever given by any member of the human race.''

"It was a natural. It's really the basis of most of the world's religions,'' said James Lovell, an Apollo 8 astronaut who has lent the flight manual containing the verses to the Adler Planetarium.

[KevinDavis]

To listen to this message click here. A special Chritmas message to the space freepers!

[KevinDavis]

[FOG724]

bttt

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[Names Ash Housewares]

[KevinDavis]

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."

[satchmodog9]

Now there would be cries of separation of religion and space.

[Kitten Festival]

What a lovely article and a wonderful post!

[VOA]

A landmark of "the spoken word".
Just about as amazing as the religional approach of
"Charlie Brown Christmas" (which I guess the CBS execs hated).

[KevinDavis]

They hated the special.

[KevinDavis]

They hated the special.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Now there would be cries of separation of religion and space.

That's only on earth.

Space is a free expression zone.

[EsmeraldaA]

A great post KD, thank you!

[KevinDavis]

Your welcome...

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Merry Christmas to you and your, KevinDavis. Thanks for the ping list and your selection of posts.

[kingu]

This mission means alot to me; my first birthday card was actually written before I was born, signed by the astronauts of Apollo VIII before they launched. My father got notice of my impending arrival while live on the air covering this mission and later raced back to the station to cover the orbital insertion around the moon with a rather, or so I've been told, dopey expression on his face.

[KevinDavis]

I was born 2 years after the Apollo 8 mission.

[Termite_Commander]

Good post, and thanks for the ping.

Merry Christmas.

[RaceBannon]

I was 9 years old in December 1968, it was a magical time for a child, to remember all the spacecraft's names, the astronauts names, the type of rocket they took off with, dates, times...

I wonder what kids today remember of space...

[KevinDavis]

Probaly nothing..