On Christmas Eve, December 24th 1968, a television broadcast was aired around the world in which the first humans ever to travel to the Moon read from the Book of Genesis.
No – Neil Armstrong’s crew was NASA’s Apollo 11 mission which took place in 1969, the following year. The crew we’re talking about here were part of the Apollo 8 mission, which took place around 7 months earlier.
The 3-man American crew of Apollo 8 was comprised of astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders. While they didn’t set foot on the lunar service like Armstrong’s crew, they were the first human beings to ever orbit the Moon and to see its far side directly with their own eyes. They were also the first humans to witness an “Earthrise” – that is, the sight of the earth rising over the surface of the Moon.
The mission, which took place at Christmas time, involved orbiting the Moon ten times and then returning to earth.
The crew decided to read an excerpt from the Book of Genesis, which is the opening book of the Bible, and which lays out the Biblical narrative of how God created the world, because it is accepted by all Abrahamic faiths – Jews, Christians and Muslims – and thus would resonate with a significant percentage of the world’s population.
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.
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.
The broadcast concluded with Borman 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.”
The reading was listened to live by an estimated 1 in 4 people worldwide – roughly a billion people spread across 64 countries.
This act of reaching out across space to connect with people on Earth, irrespective of their faith or background, was a powerful moment in human history, and the men involved are remembered for their bold achievement to this day.