Christmas Eve / NASA trivia...

[mrsilv04]

This evening, in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 was orbiting the moon. They sent back to the earth, a reading from the Book of Genesis. 54 years ago tonight.

And the crew of Apollo 8... Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders... is the only Apollo crew that are all still with us.

I got to meet Jim Lovell in Chicago. The company that I worked for at the time, had him to come and speak to us, and we were all given hand signed copies of his book... Lost Moon.

 

[Number_35]

This evening, in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 was orbiting the moon. They sent back to the earth, a reading from the Book of Genesis. 54 years ago tonight.

And the crew of Apollo 8... Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders... is the only Apollo crew that are all still with us.

I got to meet Jim Lovell in Chicago. The company that I worked for at the time, had him to come and speak to us, and we were all given hand signed copies of his book... Lost Moon.

Borman and Lovell are the two oldest surviving astronauts, both 94 now. Anders is a young pup in his late '80s.

The Apollo 8 episode of From The Earth To The Moon is particularly excellent.

Dad and I were out shoveling the driveway a couple of days before Christmas that year. We saw a light moving across the night sky, too far away to be an aircraft, and lasting way too long to be a meteorite. Dad said "I bet that's those guys on the way to the moon".

 

[BHopkins]

I remember that. What a super special thing to do. The Apollo astronauts had enjoyed a view of earth that had never been seen by mankind before. It must have been a very moving experience - something the rest of us can't begin to comprehend.

 

[Number_35]

I remember that. What a super special thing to do. The Apollo astronauts had enjoyed a view of earth that had never been seen by mankind before. It must have been a very moving experience - something the rest of us can't begin to comprehend.

Bill Anders's iconic photo "Earthrise" helps us begin to imagine what it was like.

Besides the incredible experience of seeing the Earth from lunar orbit and the lunar surface from a low orbit (60 miles was it?), there was a huge element of danger. The SM engine had to fire, or the crew would have perished in lunar orbit.

 

[mrsilv04]