In December 1968, NASA launched Apollo 8 — the first manned mission to the moon.
No one, not even the astronauts aboard, was certain that they’d be able to return safely from a new frontier.
Their journey, the most hazardous and dangerous ever embarked upon, took them to the boundaries of another world, and, even more remarkably, brought peace to their own.
On Christmas Eve two unforgettable events happened.
After spotting the barren, far side of the moon for the first time, the astronauts captured an iconic photo that has since become known as “Earthrise.”
CBN News writes: “For all the turmoil, tragedy, and political tumult the world had experienced during 1968, this iconic, indelible image captured the beauty and fragility of our home planet.”
Then, with more than one billion people listening and watching around the world, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders delivered a message to what was at the time the largest audience in human history.
It was the first ten verses of the Bible:
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.
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.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven 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.
– Genesis 1:1-10 KJV
“We were told that on Christmas Eve we would have the largest audience that had ever listened to a human voice,” recalled Frank Borman during 40th anniversary celebrations in 2008.
“And the only instructions that we got from NASA was to do something appropriate.”
“The first ten verses of Genesis is the foundation of many of the world’s religions, not just the Christian religion,” added Jim Lovell.
“There are more people in other religions than the Christian religion around the world, and so this would be appropriate to that and so that’s how it came to pass.”
On Christmas Day the crew of Apollo 8 began their 400,000 kilometre journey home.
CBN News writes: “The mission certainly proved that man could make it to the moon, but more importantly, it demonstrated just how vast our universe is and how mighty our God is.”
