During our Wednesday evening Bible study we watched this video clip. In December 1968 the crew of Apollo 8 was the first to leave earth's orbit and enter deep space. Their mission was to orbit, but not land on the moon. (This was in preparation of the historic moon landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969) The mission of Apollo 8 was a flawless success. On Christmas Eve, while orbiting the moon, the three man crew took turns reading from Genesis 1. It's interesting to note these men wrote the words they wanted to recite on fireproof paper on the back of their flight plan. At first the video gave me goosebumps, but those goosebumps soon gave way to tears. Seeing the earth from the moon's perspective while hearing Genesis 1 was very moving. I was also struck by the fact that these men would do this. If 21st century American astronauts tried to do this they would be fired immediately and sued by the ACLU. The world has changed and it's not for the better.
For the record, the footage in this video is not just from Apollo 8. It is a compilation of several missions (including Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon with Apollo 11)
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