Christmas Eve 1968
Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to the Moon. It entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. Astronauts Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast showing pictures of our Earth and Moon from Apollo 8. At the end of their broadcast with the crew took turns reading from the book of Genesis.
It was the ultimate wow factor. From that Christmas on after watching the news Christmas evening I was a NASA fan. I still have my collection of Astronaut photos, an extensive space stamp collection, videos, books, the list is long. I somehow found something spiritual watching that broadcast a feeling that overcomes me even today when watching the folks tethered to the Shuttles and working on satellites or the Space Station.
The first photo of Earth in space was was taken in 1946 with a 35-millimeter motion picture camera riding on a V-2 missile.
Lunar Orbiter I sent this crescent of the Earth photographed August 23, 1966
The “Earthrise” photo is a familiar poster that has been hung on many a wall. In January that year the photo from Apollo 8 was published – look at our planet hanging there in space.
Earth as seen from Mars
Yes we now have images from space of Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and into the heliosheath. But nothing yet has recreated the awe I felt in 1968.
As Astronaut Borman said in 1968 : “. … good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.
Note: not sure which Christmas the photo of me is from but close enough