Apollo 8 was the first ever manned mission to depart from the Earth and orbit the moon. I was in elementary school and vividly remember this daring journey which took place over Christmas of 1968.
The interesting tale told in the book, “Rocket Men” by Ruben Kurson, is that the mission was changed from being solely an earth orbit to lunar, in part to beat the Soviets to the moon. This mission change was risky, but paid off in experience and a bit of positive publicity for the space program.
One of the highlights of the mission was a Christmas Eve reading of Genesis by the three astronauts. It was the highest rated television broadcast at the time. Frankly, a reading of biblical passages by government employees would probably not be allowed in this day and age. See the following link to listen to the broadcast.
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There’s an interesting backstory to how the crew wound up choosing the book of Genesis for their Christmas Eve broadcast. Frank Borman, the mission commander, was unhappy with his original plans for a message, and was eventually assisted by Christine Laitan, who, as a teenager, served in the French Resistance during World War II. See this link for that improbable story.
Watching that mission thrilled me and led me to dream of becoming an astronaut. Grades and poor vision led me to set my sights lower. But life has turned out well even though I never left earth orbit.
In the spirit of the Apollo 8 crew, Laurie and I wish you, “…a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.