'All Of You On The Good Earth' — The Timeless Message Of Apollo 8
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Miracles: When it comes to Christmas miracles, few can match Apollo 8, which was in orbit around the moon 50 years ago today. It still ranks as the most impossibly ambitious and borderline reckless space voyage ever attempted — even counting Apollo 11. And for a moment, it brought humanity together in a way that had never happened before or, arguably, since.
The only successful manned mission had been Alan Shepard 's 15-minute suborbital flight on a Mercury Redstone rocket that was one-fifth as tall as the Saturn V rocket used to get to the moon.
When Kennedy made that speech, NASA had no idea how it would even get men to the moon, and no rocket that could do the job. NASA didn't settle on the idea of using the iconic spindly lunar lander until more than a year later.
NASA itself barely existed in May 1961. And computers were primitive even by the standards of 30 years ago. Less than two years before, three astronauts died in a cabin fire during a ground test.
Even more incredible is the fact that Apollo 8 wasn't supposed to happen at all, at least not then. NASA originally planned it for the next year, and even then it wasn't supposed to go all the way to the moon. Less than four months out, they took the highly unusual risk of jumping the gun.
Apollo 8 achieved a huge number of significant firsts. It was the first manned flight on the massive Saturn V rocket. Three hours after takeoff, and for the first time in human history, mankind left Earth's orbit for the first time ever and Apollo 8 became the first manned craft to orbit another celestial body. Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were the first humans ever to see the entire Earth and the first to see our planet rise over the moon's surface.
When they returned, Time magazine named them "Men of the Year" for 1968.
Remember, too, that Apollo 8 capped an especially turbulent and violent year, one that makes today's political drama seem modest by comparison.
So, when the astronauts delivered their Christmas Eve message — a message of unity and hope to the people back on earth — it was especially poignant.
Anders started by saying: "For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you."
Then, from the cramped command module 240,000 miles away, the three each read passages from the opening verses of Genesis telling the story of God's creation of earth.
Robert Zimmerman, who wrote a book about the mission, says the astronauts deliberated at length about what to say, and felt the words from Genesis would "include the feelings and beliefs of as many people as possible."
Borman then closed by saying:
"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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“Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast
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 Jim 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."
Audio and Video Broadcast - Quicktime Movie (2400 kb)
Large Version Audio and Video Broadcast - Quicktime Movie (40 Mb)
Apollo 8 home page
Apollo home page
Moon home page
Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258 ”
An awesome tribute to our Creator God.
Another Christmas milestone to remember. I was eight years old for this one. That must have been an awesome moment seeing the earth 🌎 from orbit of the moon 50 years ago last nights Christmas Eve. The awe of it all led to a tribute to its and our creator, the reason for the season. MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄🎁 ONE AND ALL. May everyone have a great day no matter how you celebrate 🎊 today. 😇