December 24
PEACE ON EARTH DAY
The moon seemed a little closer to Earth this day ... and the world got a little smaller. 1968 and three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, had reached the moon. It had been just three days earlier that Borman, Captain of Apollo 8, and his team left Cape Kennedy.
Before their return to Earth, the three astronauts would orbit the moon ten times, paving the way for the first Earthling to walk on the lunar surface some seven months down the road.
People all around the globe were able to see (via direct TV transmission) the most important parts of the Apollo 8 mission. This night proved to be one of the most emotional moments of the space flight. It was Christmas Eve, and Lovell, Anders and Borman, 250,000 miles from home, were reading verses from their bible and transmitting a message to all mankind calling for “peace on Earth.”
To you, whom we can now communicate with because the Internet has made this Earth a much smaller place, whatever your faith or nationality, we wish you... Peace.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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