Commemorating Frank Borman and the Live Broadcast from Lunar Orbit on Christmas Eve, 1968
When visiting in-laws in the Chicago area over the past half century, I’ve often driven on the section of Interstate 94 in northwest Indiana named the “Frank Borman Expressway.” I’m sure that many people who have noticed the signs designating that road’s name have no idea who Frank Borman was. A Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 astronaut, Frank Borman died on November 7, 2023, at age 95. Borman was born in Gary, Indiana, which explains why that section of I-94 was named for him. Coincidentally, I-94 ends in Billings, Montana, where Borman died.
With my interest in space, it’s no wonder that I remember who Frank Borman was, even if few other people do. After all, he was the commander of the Apollo 8 mission, the first time that men orbited the moon. Apollo 8 did not land on the moon—that feat would come with Apollo 11 more than six months later.
Frank Borman Suiting Up; NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
But Frank Borman’s name stands out for a different, albeit related, reason. The Apollo 8 mission was scheduled during the Christmas season of 1968. With months of advance notice, NASA suggested to Borman that he and the other two crew members read something significant during a live Christmas Eve broadcast while in lunar orbit. After much discussion, Borman decided on reading the first ten verses of Genesis 1. These verses were included in the Apollo 8 flight plan for the astronauts to read. Here is the transcript of the relevant part of the broadcast:
William Anders:
We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
“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.”
Jim Lovell:
“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.”
Frank Borman:
“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 he Seas: and God saw that it was good.”
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 the good Earth.
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Earthrise; Bill Anders, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Postage Stamp; United States Postal Service, Public Domain
It is estimated that a billion people around the world watched this live broadcast. As a high school freshman, I was part of the audience, and I vividly remember the event. As the astronauts read from Genesis 1, one of them held a camera to a window of the spacecraft to show the earth “rising” over the moon as they orbited. Though it was not broadcast in color, the view and the words had quite an impact on people. About that time, Bill Anders took a high-resolution color photograph of the rising earth with a film camera. Upon return to earth, that image was all over news reports of the Apollo 8 mission, often with reference to the Scripture reading. The following year, the post office issued a commemorative stamp for Apollo 8 with that image and the first four words of Genesis 1.
Borman and men like him are sorely missed.
Unfortunately, over the past half century, our culture has dramatically changed—I doubt that today NASA would encourage the reading of Scripture in a live broadcast from space. If astronauts did read from the Bible during a live broadcast, I’m not sure how the public would respond. In 1968, there were a few complaints, but overall the reaction was very positive, and people were encouraged. But we now live in a much more secular world. Many early astronauts, such as Frank Borman, expressed that what they saw from orbit (or from the moon) touched them spiritually and caused them to reflect upon our Creator. Borman and men like him are sorely missed.
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