Skip to content

Fifty-three years ago today, on December 27, 1968…

…the crew of Apollo 8 returned to earth after orbiting the moon and giving to the world a very special Christmas gift on Christmas Eve — a reading of Genesis 1:1-10.

In the above photograph, the crew of Apollo 8 speaks to “the crew of the USS Yorktown after successful splashdown and recovery” in the North Pacific Ocean. At the microphone is Mission Commander Frank Borman. To Borman’s immediate left is Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, and to Anders’s left is Command Module Pilot James Lovell.

Apollo 8 Command module on the deck of USS Yorktown

You can hear the broadcast the three crewmen presented on Christmas Eve here. The photo below depicts the crowd that had gathered to welcome the crew back to Houston when they arrived there on December 29, 1968.


You can hear the Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast here.


December 29, 1968 / Wikipedia
Apollo 8 silver medallion / Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this article on Facebook or Twitter.
Published inHistoryUncategorized

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.