Free Republic

From a distance, it looks like a war plane imagined by Hayao Miyazaki, or the type of machine that could only exist in a science fiction novel. But according to aviation enthusiasts who captured footage of it soaring in the California skies last week, it’s an experimental aircraft designed by Stratolaunch, an aerospace company located in the Mojave Desert. Chances are, residents in surrounding towns will see more of it, too. Described as the world’s largest flying aircraft, Roc — which looks like two 747s fused together and has a wingspan larger than a football field — recently completed a...

The risk of space debris falling through airspace is going up in 2026, according to researchers. Experts said spacecraft, or parts of one, fall back into the Earth’s atmosphere once a week on average. Most of this space debris is empty rocket stages, while others are dead satellites whose low orbits decayed enough for them to slip into the atmosphere. Most of these “human-made meteors” don’t survive long due to the heat and shredding force that come as the objects speed through the air. However, some bits of debris from these objects can survive long enough to fall through the...

Mission Success. Haven Demo, our Haven-1 space station technologies test bed is now on orbit and healthy. Watch footage from our onboard cameras in full duration 4K. More to come. Haven Demo On Orbit | 4K Mission Footage | 2:31 Vast | 18.5K subscribers | 10,566 views | November 4, 2025Haven Demo @ VastSpaceX launches private space station pathfinder 'Haven Demo,' 17 other satellites to orbit (video) | Mike Wall | November 2, 2025SpaceX rockets the 'Haven Demo' pathfinder module and 17 other satellites into space:Falcon 9 marks its 140th launch with SpaceX's Bandwagon-4 | posted by Raina Saha |...

December 25, 2003, Christmas DayA Message to Earth Apollo 8 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968. It was the first mission to the moon with a crew aboard, and its purpose was to orbit the moon in preparation for a future landing on the moon. On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit and the crew began to relay back to Earth live television pictures of the moon and the Earth. They ended their broadcast by saying: “For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to...

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...

Even though I wasn't born until 1970 I still like to listen this.. You can view the video here: Apollo 8

The Adler Planetarium has the first Christmas message from space: the 1968 flight manual from Apollo 8 containing verses of Genesis. The three crew members took turns, on live television on Christmas Eve, reading the opening passages of the Bible, starting with, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth. ..." "It was a natural. It's really the basis of most of the world's religions," Apollo 8 astronaut and Lake Forest restaurateur James Lovell said in an interview last year. Historian Robert Zimmerman, writing in his book Genesis: The First Manned Flight To Another World, called it "the...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

NASA Television Commemorates Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will honor the 40th anniversary of the historic Christmas Eve broadcast by the Apollo 8 crew with special programming Dec. 24 and 25 on the NASA TV Public Channel (101). Forty years ago, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans to visit another heavenly body as they successfully orbited the moon in their Apollo 8 spacecraft. On Dec. 24, 1968, the three astronauts devoted one of their mission's six live television transmissions to reading from the biblical book of Genesis during what has...

Merry Christmas my fellow Space Freepers...

Apollo 8 Christmas Message

The year 1968 was one of the mst discouraging in modern US history. The Vietnam War dragged on. Despite major civil rights bills, many people feared the country was turning "increasingly seperate and unequal." The nation grieved over the assassinations of Martin Luther King JR. and Robert Kennedy. Riots filled the streets.

It happened on Christmas Eve, 48 years ago. Three men took turns reading from the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis. They were nearly 250,000 miles away from Bethlehem, but since it was the night before Christmas, and there was no chimney from which to hang their stockings, the three astronauts inside the Apollo 8 capsule orbiting the moon thought it would be appropriate. So as Jim Lovell,Frank Borman and Bill Anders looked at the faraway Earth through the small window of the spacecraft, they read the verses: “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the Earth.”...

Christmas Eve, 1968. As one of the most turbulent, tragic years in American history drew to a close, millions around the world were watching and listening as the Apollo 8 astronauts - Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders - became the first humans to orbit another world.

For Christmas Eve:Apollo 8's Christmas Eve Message

It happened on Christmas Eve, 48 years ago. Three men took turns reading from the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis. They were nearly 250,000 miles away from Bethlehem, but since it was the night before Christmas, and there was no chimney from which to hang their stockings, the three astronauts inside the Apollo 8 capsule orbiting the moon thought it would be appropriate. So as Jim Lovell,Frank Borman and Bill Anders looked at the faraway Earth through the small window of the spacecraft, they read the verses: “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the Earth.”...

December 24, 1968: Apollo 8 Genesis Reading and Earthrise"We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you."Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast - Genesis Reading (1968)Apollo 8 Genesis readingEarthrise is a photograph of Earth and some of the Moon's surface that was taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission.Earthrise

Genesis 1:1-10Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast - Genesis Reading (1968)Bill AndersWe are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to 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...

A recording of the Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the book of Genesis.

(Broadcast at source link)TranscriptBill AndersWe are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to 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...