thedrifter
12-18-05, 04:49 PM
Remembering Apollo 8's Christmas message
December 18, 2005
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
NASA told them to say something.
And so they did.
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. . . .''
EXPERIENCE APOLLO 8
*The flight manual from Apollo 8 is near the front door of the Adler Planetarium, across from a statue of James Lovell. The exhibit, which is included in the Adler general admission, includes TV footage from the Christmas Eve 1968 broadcast.
*For photos and films from NASA missions, including Apollo 8, go to nix.nasa.gov/.
THE READING
The first 10 lines of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, that was read by the crew of Apollo 8, begins the story of God's creation of the universe.
Lunar module pilot William Anders was first, reading that "God said 'Let there be light and there was light.' ''
Command module pilot and navigator James Lovell read verses five through eight, covering the creation of day and night. Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman concluded with God separating land from sea, concluding with the line "and God saw that it was good.''
Traditionalists believe that the book was dictated by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Many biblical scholars believe it began as oral literature, perhaps as early as 2000 to 1500 B.C. Composed over a period of several hundred years, Genesis reached its final written form around 500 B.C., these scholars assert.
Andrew Herrmann
The trio of astronauts of Apollo 8, speaking from space on Christmas Eve in 1968, quoted from Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
It was, opines historian Robert Zimmerman, "the most profound Christmas prayer ever given by any member of the human race.''
"It was a natural. It's really the basis of most of the world's religions,'' said James Lovell, an Apollo 8 astronaut who has lent the flight manual containing the verses to the Adler Planetarium.
'Magnifique!'
Like the exhaust plume of a rocket, memory fades over the years. But Apollo 8 was -- and still is, by some -- considered the most important step in the exploration of space.
True, Apollo 11, commanded by Neil Armstrong, marked the first time man had stepped on the moon.
But the Christmas mission of Apollo 8 was the first time a human completely escaped Earth's gravity and, with his own eyes, saw the dark side of the moon. The flight was a worldwide phenomenon, thanks to Apollo 8's providing the first pictures of the planet taken by man from deep space, and the first live TV coverage of the moon's surface up close.
In Moscow, the government newspaper published only a brief report, and there was no live TV coverage. But in England, one front-page story began, "They've Done It!'' In Austria, people gathered around Vienna shop windows to watch the TV pictures of Earth. "Magnifique!'' Parisian office workers shouted.
Zimmerman, in his book Genesis: The First Manned Flight To Another World, writes that the images and words beamed back allowed the Apollo astronauts -- Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders -- to "use their bully pulpit in space to advocate the American vision of moral individuality, religious tolerance and mutual respect.''
Apollo 8 "delineated the differences between the Soviet vision of society and the freely religious American system,'' Zimmerman writes. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin "proclaimed he saw no god in space. Borman, Lovell and Anders saw Him everywhere.''
'Begin at the beginning'
The astronauts made the decision to read from the Bible.
Anders, a Catholic, at first wanted to tell the story of Christ's birth. Borman knew the world would be watching -- a world that included folks other than Christians.
Borman consulted a friend, Simon Bourgin, who worked for the United States Information Agency. Stumped, Bourgin asked another friend, Joe Laitlan, a former newspaperman. Laitlan's wife, Christine, told her husband to "begin at the beginning'' and suggested Genesis.
"We transferred it onto fireproof paper, and we put in the back of the flight manual,'' said Lovell, 77, a North Shore resident and Lake Forest restaurateur.
The astronauts concluded their reading of the first 10 lines of Genesis with a message from Borman, Apollo 8's commander.
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with a good night, good luck and a merry Christmas. God bless all of you . . . all of you on the good Earth.''
Lovell, a Presbyterian, said he is often asked if space changed his religious beliefs in any way.
"And my answer is, God is down here as well as he is around the moon,'' Lovell said.
However, his 700 hours in space over four missions "gave me more perspective of our position in the universe with relationship to a supreme being that set this whole thing up,'' he said.
"There's been a lot of talk about intelligent design these days as compared to evolution. I don't think they're at conflict here because I think where the intelligent design occurred was at the time of the big bang 15 [billion] years ago,'' Lovell said.
For Anders, the trip prompted him to question and ultimately reject Catholicism. Looking at Earth from a quarter million miles away, he was struck by how "we're like ants on a log.''
'A chaotic year'
"How could any Earth-centered religious ritual know what God's truth is?'' Anders told Zimmerman.
The flight was enormously important at the time, if only to give Americans an emotional boost, Lovell said.
"Sixty-eight was a very poor year, a chaotic year,'' Lovell said, noting the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War and the riots during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"But we ended the year on an upbeat, we ended doing something progressive, something positive,'' Lovell said.
He said he hopes visitors to the Adler looking at the flight manual and the words of Genesis will get the same boost today.
"I hope people will get a lift even today -- when we still have turmoil and another war going on -- and realize the value of being an American citizen,'' Lovell said.
Ellie
December 18, 2005
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
NASA told them to say something.
And so they did.
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. . . .''
EXPERIENCE APOLLO 8
*The flight manual from Apollo 8 is near the front door of the Adler Planetarium, across from a statue of James Lovell. The exhibit, which is included in the Adler general admission, includes TV footage from the Christmas Eve 1968 broadcast.
*For photos and films from NASA missions, including Apollo 8, go to nix.nasa.gov/.
THE READING
The first 10 lines of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, that was read by the crew of Apollo 8, begins the story of God's creation of the universe.
Lunar module pilot William Anders was first, reading that "God said 'Let there be light and there was light.' ''
Command module pilot and navigator James Lovell read verses five through eight, covering the creation of day and night. Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman concluded with God separating land from sea, concluding with the line "and God saw that it was good.''
Traditionalists believe that the book was dictated by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Many biblical scholars believe it began as oral literature, perhaps as early as 2000 to 1500 B.C. Composed over a period of several hundred years, Genesis reached its final written form around 500 B.C., these scholars assert.
Andrew Herrmann
The trio of astronauts of Apollo 8, speaking from space on Christmas Eve in 1968, quoted from Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
It was, opines historian Robert Zimmerman, "the most profound Christmas prayer ever given by any member of the human race.''
"It was a natural. It's really the basis of most of the world's religions,'' said James Lovell, an Apollo 8 astronaut who has lent the flight manual containing the verses to the Adler Planetarium.
'Magnifique!'
Like the exhaust plume of a rocket, memory fades over the years. But Apollo 8 was -- and still is, by some -- considered the most important step in the exploration of space.
True, Apollo 11, commanded by Neil Armstrong, marked the first time man had stepped on the moon.
But the Christmas mission of Apollo 8 was the first time a human completely escaped Earth's gravity and, with his own eyes, saw the dark side of the moon. The flight was a worldwide phenomenon, thanks to Apollo 8's providing the first pictures of the planet taken by man from deep space, and the first live TV coverage of the moon's surface up close.
In Moscow, the government newspaper published only a brief report, and there was no live TV coverage. But in England, one front-page story began, "They've Done It!'' In Austria, people gathered around Vienna shop windows to watch the TV pictures of Earth. "Magnifique!'' Parisian office workers shouted.
Zimmerman, in his book Genesis: The First Manned Flight To Another World, writes that the images and words beamed back allowed the Apollo astronauts -- Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders -- to "use their bully pulpit in space to advocate the American vision of moral individuality, religious tolerance and mutual respect.''
Apollo 8 "delineated the differences between the Soviet vision of society and the freely religious American system,'' Zimmerman writes. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin "proclaimed he saw no god in space. Borman, Lovell and Anders saw Him everywhere.''
'Begin at the beginning'
The astronauts made the decision to read from the Bible.
Anders, a Catholic, at first wanted to tell the story of Christ's birth. Borman knew the world would be watching -- a world that included folks other than Christians.
Borman consulted a friend, Simon Bourgin, who worked for the United States Information Agency. Stumped, Bourgin asked another friend, Joe Laitlan, a former newspaperman. Laitlan's wife, Christine, told her husband to "begin at the beginning'' and suggested Genesis.
"We transferred it onto fireproof paper, and we put in the back of the flight manual,'' said Lovell, 77, a North Shore resident and Lake Forest restaurateur.
The astronauts concluded their reading of the first 10 lines of Genesis with a message from Borman, Apollo 8's commander.
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with a good night, good luck and a merry Christmas. God bless all of you . . . all of you on the good Earth.''
Lovell, a Presbyterian, said he is often asked if space changed his religious beliefs in any way.
"And my answer is, God is down here as well as he is around the moon,'' Lovell said.
However, his 700 hours in space over four missions "gave me more perspective of our position in the universe with relationship to a supreme being that set this whole thing up,'' he said.
"There's been a lot of talk about intelligent design these days as compared to evolution. I don't think they're at conflict here because I think where the intelligent design occurred was at the time of the big bang 15 [billion] years ago,'' Lovell said.
For Anders, the trip prompted him to question and ultimately reject Catholicism. Looking at Earth from a quarter million miles away, he was struck by how "we're like ants on a log.''
'A chaotic year'
"How could any Earth-centered religious ritual know what God's truth is?'' Anders told Zimmerman.
The flight was enormously important at the time, if only to give Americans an emotional boost, Lovell said.
"Sixty-eight was a very poor year, a chaotic year,'' Lovell said, noting the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War and the riots during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"But we ended the year on an upbeat, we ended doing something progressive, something positive,'' Lovell said.
He said he hopes visitors to the Adler looking at the flight manual and the words of Genesis will get the same boost today.
"I hope people will get a lift even today -- when we still have turmoil and another war going on -- and realize the value of being an American citizen,'' Lovell said.
Ellie