Apollo 8 and the Christmas Orbit of the Moon
In December of 1968, still, in pursuit of John F. Kennedy’s goal of sending an American to the moon and returning him safely to earth before the end of the decade, the United States launched the Apollo 8 mission. For the first time, human beings left earth orbit and traveled to another heavenly body, in a mission during which they would orbit the moon, sending back pictures of their journey, but making no attempt at landing. Apollo 8 reached the moon during the Christmas holiday which brought to a close on of the most difficult years of American existence.
During the Apollo 8 mission, which reached the moon on Christmas Eve, the three American astronauts, Jim Lovell (later to be made famous during Apollo 13), Frank Borman, and William Anders, broadcast a television presentation on Christmas Eve. They read the first ten verses of the Biblical book of Genesis against the dramatic backdrop of the Earth as viewed from the moon. At the close of a year which had seen political murders, extensive urban violence, a seemingly unending and fruitless war, racial violence, and economic troubles, it was the first opportunity for humans to see the earth rise against the lunar sky, an event shared with the world.
The returning astronauts were selected to be TIME Magazine’s Men of the Year. The mission was widely lauded as the single most important event of 1968, clearly showing the Earth as a fragile vehicle in an inexpressibly greater universe. Frank Borman reported receiving a telegram that thanked him for saving 1968. NASA readied itself for the historic lunar landing to come in just a few short months. The United States clearly established that it was, despite its internal and international difficulties, the technology leader of the world.
But it was not without controversy, as was little else in that incredibly troublesome year. The question of investing so much money and effort in what was little more – to the critics – than an entertainment and propaganda exercise was raised. Some in Congress debated whether the money could be better spent elsewhere. There were calls for the incoming Nixon administration to curtail the space program. Geopolitical pundits wondered if the United States intended to claim the moon in the manner of Columbus landing in the New World. The potential of militarization of space and orbiting bodies was fearfully raised, even before Apollo 8 returned home.
It was an appropriate end for 1968, which was clearly one of the most divisive and decisive years in all of American history. A nation at odds with itself when the year began found its ending with even greater distrust of its institutions, principles, and people. When considering issues which polarize the nation today, Americans would do well to consider that troubling year five decades ago when the nation threatened to pull apart at its seams.