Final Orbit

(Photo taken from Apollo 8, December 24, 1968)

Earlier this week, Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman died at the age of 95.  Borman had flown on Gemini 7 before being selected to command Apollo 8, the first manned flight to circumnavigate the moon, in December 1968.  The Apollo 8 crew were the first humans to see the Earth as pictured above.

Borman is best known for his reading from Genesis, broadcast to Earth on Christmas Eve, of which I wrote previously:

Christmas Eve 1968.  Apollo 8 is on its mission carrying the first humans to escape low Earth orbit and the first to circle the Moon - Frank Borman, Jim Lovell (later commander of Apollo 13), Bill Anders.

Several weeks before lift-off the crew had been told that NASA had arranged for them to do a live Christmas Eve broadcast to the world.  When Borman asked what they should say, all they were advised was that it be "something appropriate".  With the help of the wife of a correspondent friend who had been raised in a French convent, they decided to read the opening chapters of the Bible, from Genesis (as explained in the video below).  No one on the ground at NASA was aware of what they would say, until they started reading.  For many reasons, this would not happen today, both from a process and substance perspective.

After reading the opening verses of Genesis, the crew closed with its own benediction:

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 this Good Earth.

Hearing those words, in those circumstances, had a huge emotional impact on those who heard it, and it still affects me when I listen to it more than 50 years later.

The video below tells the story, followed by what listeners heard on December 24, 1968.  All of the Apollo 8 astronauts are still alive, Borman and Lovell at age 92, and Anders at 87.

 

(Text read by crew of Apollo 8)

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 the Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Jim Lovell, who flew with Borman on Apollo 8, and is best-known as the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13, is now the oldest surviving Apollo astronaut, a week younger than Borman.  Marilyn, Lovell's wife of 71 years, passed away two months ago.  Borman was also married for 71 years before his wife passed in 2021. The third Apollo 8 crewman, Bill Anders, just turned 90.  Anders has been married to his wife, Valerie, for 68 years.

Along with Lovell and Anders there are five other surviving crew from the 24 astronauts who flew on the nine Apollo missions which orbited and/or landed on the moon:

Apollo 10 - Thomas Stafford (93)

Apollo 11 - Buzz Aldrin (93)

Apollo 15 - David Scott (91)

Apollo 16 - Charles Duke (88)

Apollo 17 - Harrison Schmitt (88)

 

Ken Mattingly, scrubbed at the last minute from Apollo 13, and Command Module Pilot on Apollo 16, passed ten days ago.