Christmas Eve 1968

NEON DEON · 12-24-08, 09:03 PM

Americans had much to be mournful about in 1968. The Tet Offensive. The assinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Rioting at the Democratic convention.

But on Christmas Eve 1968 as Apollo 8 emerged from the dark side of the moon the World and our Solar system became a bit smaller.

"Ten minutes later, Lovell typed the instructions for the engine burn into the on-board computer, and the computer flashed back "99:40," which was code for "Are you sure?" Lovell hit the Proceed button. The engine lit and the burn worked exactly as scripted, inserting Apollo 8 into an initial lunar orbit 169.1 miles high at its peak and just 60.5 miles above the lunar craters at its nadir. Even before the crew re-emerged around the other side of the moon and back into radio contact with Houston, Anders snapped what is surely the most iconic photo of the space age and one of the most iconic of any age: Earthrise over the lunar surface.

That evening, as families finished their Christmas Eve dinners, the astronauts pointed their camera out the window and beamed home a grainy, gray view of the alien world they were circling. Everywhere on the planet, viewers tuned in, making up what was then the largest TV audience in history. Borman, Lovell and Anders had been instructed to do whatever they felt was appropriate to mark the moment. A friend of Borman's had suggested they read from the book of Genesis, and so its first 10 verses had been typed up on a piece of fireproof paper before the crew left Earth. They took turns reading aloud.

When they finished, Borman, as the skipper, concluded the broadcast: "And from the crew of Apollo 8," he said, "we close with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

SUBMAN1 · 12-24-08, 09:04 PM

NASA also got sued for them reading from Genesis by the dumb ass atheists, but the courts respectively threw it out.

-S

nikimcbee · 12-25-08, 03:12 AM

Wait, i read on the internetz that they faked all of that.

PeriscopeDepth · 12-25-08, 03:32 AM

Good post.

PD

A Very Super Market · 12-26-08, 07:16 PM

The Vietnamese probably had more worries about Tet, given that it failed and the US troops had much fewer casualties

12-24-08, 09:03 PM	#1
NEON DEON Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,207 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 5	Christmas Eve 1968 Americans had much to be mournful about in 1968. The Tet Offensive. The assinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Rioting at the Democratic convention. But on Christmas Eve 1968 as Apollo 8 emerged from the dark side of the moon the World and our Solar system became a bit smaller. "Ten minutes later, Lovell typed the instructions for the engine burn into the on-board computer, and the computer flashed back "99:40," which was code for "Are you sure?" Lovell hit the Proceed button. The engine lit and the burn worked exactly as scripted, inserting Apollo 8 into an initial lunar orbit 169.1 miles high at its peak and just 60.5 miles above the lunar craters at its nadir. Even before the crew re-emerged around the other side of the moon and back into radio contact with Houston, Anders snapped what is surely the most iconic photo of the space age and one of the most iconic of any age: Earthrise over the lunar surface. That evening, as families finished their Christmas Eve dinners, the astronauts pointed their camera out the window and beamed home a grainy, gray view of the alien world they were circling. Everywhere on the planet, viewers tuned in, making up what was then the largest TV audience in history. Borman, Lovell and Anders had been instructed to do whatever they felt was appropriate to mark the moment. A friend of Borman's had suggested they read from the book of Genesis, and so its first 10 verses had been typed up on a piece of fireproof paper before the crew left Earth. They took turns reading aloud. When they finished, Borman, as the skipper, concluded the broadcast: "And from the crew of Apollo 8," he said, "we close with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth." __________________ Diesel Boats Forever!

12-24-08, 09:04 PM	#2
SUBMAN1 Rear Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 11,866 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	NASA also got sued for them reading from Genesis by the dumb ass atheists, but the courts respectively threw it out. -S __________________

12-25-08, 03:12 AM	#3
nikimcbee Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Patroling the Slot. Posts: 17,952 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Wait, i read on the internetz that they faked all of that. __________________

12-26-08, 07:16 PM	#5
A Very Super Market The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Deep in the Wild Canadian suburbs. Posts: 1,468 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The Vietnamese probably had more worries about Tet, given that it failed and the US troops had much fewer casualties __________________ The entire German garrison of Vanviken, right here in your thread!

12-25-08, 03:32 AM	#4
PeriscopeDepth Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 1,894 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	Good post. PD