Earthrise by William Anders was shot while in lunar orbit in 1968. (Photo Provided)

Some time next year Artemis II will blast off and carry a crew of four on a shakedown cruise to the moon. They will not land but will spend 10 days testing the systems needed to return humans to the surface. The trip will be a modernized version of a mission flown in 1968 that took three Americans on the first trip away from Earth.

The 1968 flight was an incredible scientific achievement. It was the humans aboard the space craft who made lasting impressions on those back on earth.

The crew of Frank Boreman, James Lovell and William Anders launched from Florida on Dec. 21, 1968, and then spent the next 68 hours traveling to the moon. They would then orbit the moon 10 times, becoming the first humans to see the back side of the moon. It was during these orbits that two things happened that captivated those back home.

One of the most famous photos ever taken was taken during the fourth orbit. Astronaut William Anders was photographing the moon with a Hasselblad camera with a 250mm lens when he noticed the earth rising over the moon’s surface.

The site caused a bit of excitement in the capsule.

Anders: “Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There’s the Earth coming up. Wow, that’s pretty.”

Borman: “Hey, don’t take that, it’s not scheduled. (joking)”

Anders: “You got a color film, Jim?”

“Hand me that roll of color quick, would you…”

Lovell: “Oh man, that’s great!”

They got things sorted out and captured one of the most important photos ever taken.

A half century after taking the photo Anders remarked “We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth.”

During the ninth orbit, roughly a billion people on Earth tuned in to watch a broadcast of the astronauts. It was Christmas Eve and 7-year-old me was at my grandmother’s house for a family get together. We watched the grainy black and white broadcast on a television tucked in the corner next to the Christmas tree.

The three took turns reading from prepared text. I will let Anders, Lovell and Boreman take it from here.

Bill 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 the 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.”

One in four humans had heard the broadcast.

Reading from the book of Genesis on Christmas Eve while orbiting the moon while the earth is rising over the surface to a billion people back on earth was a true genius idea.

The reading was planned before they left for the moon. The text printed on the fireproof flight plan in the spacecraft. They knew more people would watch and listen to the astronauts than had ever heard any broadcast. As a NASA administrator told the crew, “We want you to say something appropriate.”

Boreman got around 100,000 letters of appreciation about the broadcast.

More than a half century later, Apollo 8 is remembered as much for what the astronauts said and saw as to what they did. Hopefully the crew of Artemis II will be inspirational as well.

Art Smith is online manager of The Marietta Times and the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. He can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com.