Video: 'Apollo 8 CBS' (Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis on video #37 at 5:10)

(Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, 1968, 9:57 p.m. EST) — The three Apollo 8 astronauts, having become the first humans to orbit the moon some 17 hours earlier, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis tonight during a Christmas Eve telecast from the moon’s orbit, taking turns reading the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis.

Bill Anders started out, “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….”, followed by Jim Lovell, and concluded by Frank Borman, who finished the reading (“And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.”) then told viewers worldwide “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.”

Video: 'Frank Borman and Jim Lovell discuss the Christmas 1968 Genesis Reading'