Jim Lovell & Apollo 8: Christmas Eve Heard Round the World

Christmas Eve, 1968. Apollo 8 orbits the moon, and the astronauts read from the book of Genesis. Why'd they do it? Who selected it? What did NASA think? WGN's Emmy-award winning producer Pam Grimes takes a look back at the 1968 Apollo mission through the eyes of astronaut Jim Lovell.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• jim lovell; apollo 8
• NASA
• 1968
• Genesis
• WGNTV
• WGN News
• WGN
• Pam Grimes
• Cool
• Moon
• Orbit
• History

[helljumpr5150]

@Nautilus1972 How is that possible? States that can decide whether or not to follow the constitution?

[generalbullmoose]

@toddsmitts I bet Madelyn Murray O'Hair believes in God now....

[rdeEKINS]

we went to discover the moon, but instead discovered the Earth.

[Doctor699]

We gotta go back to the moon. Out into the solar system.

[nholt]

5:00 gives me goosebumps.

[NuclearKid]

Check out "Discovering Deerpath" on DVD. They cover the whole Genesis broadcast to magical effect. Lovell is featured throughout the documentary, which is about the town of Lake Forest. He lives there now and amazingly both Charles Lindbergh and Cal Rodgers (first man to fly across a continent) have significant ties to the town. Lovell even talks about his meeting with Lindbergh on the night before Apollo 8 left for the moon. Great stuff!

[mhirtes12]

O'Hair was a foul-tempered old hag and an attention whore. An Atheist version of Fred Phelps, imo. I'm glad she's dead. All she was doing was trying to milk atheism for her own financial gain, and in the end that's what got her killed.

(And I am an atheist myself, BTW)

[MrPunnoosej]

Obama?

[chuggachuggawoowoo]

Who needed to be shot?

[toddsmitts]

Any such laws were probably written decades ago, if not more, and wouldn't hold up if challenged in court.