It was the night before Christmas in 1968 when the Apollo 8 astronauts beamed back a message for 'the good Earth' while circling the moon.
NASA managers had told the Apollo 8 astronauts to prepare to share some words with the world that would be broadcast around the globe. The crew was given the creative freedom to choose what to say but were told "to do something appropriate," Borman said in a 2008 interview.Lovell said years later, the message was chosen because of its universal meaning.
As the Apollo 8 capsule orbited the moon more than 240,000 miles from Earth, each astronaut took turns reading verses. "From the crew of Apollo 8, we close with goodnight, good luck, a merry Christmas, and god bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."The message from the moon would be the last before the astronauts attempted to return to Earth, and mission control waited to learn if Apollo 8’s engine burn to leave moon orbit worked.
After the successful engine burn, Lovell told mission control, "Roger, please be informed there is a Santa Claus."
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