Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8

Circling the moon at 3,700 miles an hour, a quarter of a million miles from Earth, the astronaut opened his flight plan and began to read: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth..." Sweeping past the three astronauts was a stark black and white terrain, cold and forbidding. Unseen but listening intently was an audience of more than a billion people.

It was Christmas Eve, 1968. And the astronauts of Apollo 8 -- Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders -- were participants in a mission that took them farther (500,000 miles) and faster (24,000 miles an hour) than any human had ever traveled. Of the 27 previous manned launches, none had ever ventured higher than 850 miles in altitude. Apollo 8 was the first manned vehicle to leave the earth's orbit and the first craft to orbit the moon.

Confined within a tiny 11 x 13-foot capsule -- the size of the interior of a 15-passenger van -- the astronauts were aided in their journey by a computer less powerful than one of today's least sophisticated handheld calculators. The mission was not only a triumph of engineering, but also an enduring moment in history. It was a triumph for America and its space agency, and assured the public's continued interest in exploring space.