The recent death of Frank Borman, commander of Nasa’s Apollo 8 mission in 1968, has focused attention on that incredible first voyage to the Moon.
It took place eight months before Apollo 11, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface for the primary time. Nevertheless, the impact of Apollo 8’s “Earthrise” picture — the sight of the Earth from the moon — now seems even greater than that of the primary landing.
For a few years, the story behind the famous Earthrise photo, was that the crew were caught off-guard by the blue orb rising from behind the Moon. But even in the event that they were preoccupied, the astronauts knew it was coming.
One other unforgettable event throughout the mission was a reading by the crew from the Book of Genesis, broadcast to the world at Christmas. Detailed research I’ve conducted in NASA’s archives has revealed more clearly how much planning lay behind these dramatic moments. The famous Earthrise picture, a wonky snap taken in a rush, was improvised, but it surely had been anticipated.
Earthrise restored
After entering lunar orbit, they nearly missed seeing the Earth. Only on the fourth orbit, when the capsule flipped round 180 degrees to point forwards, did they notice it. Borman confirmed to me that at that moment they were “taken by surprise — too busy with lunar remark on the primary three orbits.”
However the Apollo program’s director of photography, Dick Underwood, was anxious to set the broader record straight. He explained: “Hours were spent with the lunar crews, including the Apollo 8 crew, in briefing on exactly the way to arrange the camera, which film to make use of … these briefings were most comprehensive.”
Related: How one can photograph the moon with a camera
There have been, nonetheless, battles inside NASA about what images the astronauts should concentrate on, with the management insisting on shots of lunar geology and potential landing sites. Dick Underwood explained: “I argued hard for a shot of Earthrise, and we had impressed upon the astronauts that we definitely wanted it.”
Borman was joined on the mission by two other astronauts: Jim Lovell, who was the command module pilot, and Bill Anders, who had the title of lunar module pilot. NASA had intended for Apollo 8 to check the lunar module, but it surely was behind schedule so the mission didn’t take one.
On the pre-launch press conference, Borman had looked forward to getting “
good views of the Earth from the moon” and Lovell to seeing “the Earth set and the Earth rise.”
The official mission plan directed the astronauts to take photos of Earth, but only as the bottom priority. When the important thing moment got here, the astronauts were indeed taken by surprise, but not for long.
Anders was at a side window taking photos of craters using a camera with black and white film when he saw the Earth rise from behind the moon. “Have a look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up,” Anders exclaimed.
Anders quickly took a pointy shot of the Earth emerging above the lunar horizon. Then he and Lovell argued briefly over who must have the colour film camera, while Borman tried to calm them down.
It was Anders who took the blurry, unexpectedly framed, overexposed color shot of Earthrise, later dubbed the image of the century. But in the opposite camera was a a lot better shot, long ignored since it was in black and white.
That first mono image was spot-on. A restored “Earthrise” photo, recently coloured by experts using the later shots as a reference, conveys the stunning sight beheld by the astronauts.
This shot, revealing the Earth as an imposing but fragile oasis. As Lovell mused: “The loneliness out here is awe-inspiring … it makes us realize what you could have back on Earth.” For Borman too it was “intensely emotional … We said nothing to one another, but perhaps we shared one other thought I had: ‘This have to be what God sees.’”
The Genesis reading
In 1968, as now, space travel was viewed as a scientific and technological domain. However the mission was also sent by one in all the world’s most strongly Christianised countries, and the crew was not about to go away its cultural background behind.
It was a degree of pride at Nasa that, whereas Soviet cosmonauts were tightly monitored and controlled, their very own astronauts were free to talk their minds. Extraordinary because it now seems, they were left to make your mind up for themselves what to say of their historic live broadcast from lunar orbit.
Borman knew that he needed to give you something special for the Christmas broadcast. A couple of weeks beforehand, he was told by a press officer: “We figure more people will probably be listening to your voice (throughout the broadcast) than that of any man in history. So we would like you to say something appropriate.”
While Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” message was rigorously considered inside NASA, nobody within the agency knew upfront what Borman would say.
With only two minutes left before radio contact was lost because the spacecraft passed behind the moon, Anders said: “The crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would really like to send to you.”
He then read from the Book of Genesis: “At first, God created the heaven and the Earth; and the Earth was without form and void.” He continued: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Lovell and Borman took over to read the following verses, and Borman signed off: “Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the nice Earth.”
As Apollo 8 dipped out of radio contact, the world was left to soak up the impact. “For those moments I felt the presence of creation and the creator,” NASA’s chief flight director Gene Kranz later recalled. “Tears were on my cheeks.”
One way or the other Borman and his colleagues found the proper words to convey their experience. But Borman had thought concerning the project rigorously, asking a publicist friend to assist out with the text.
This was Simon Bourgin, science policy officer on the US Information Agency. Bourgin in turn asked a journalist, Joe Laitin, who mentioned the duty to his wife, Christine.
She looked within the Old Testament and suggested: “Why don’t you start originally?” She recognized the primeval power of the creation story in the primary book of Genesis, with its evocative description of the Earth.
Borman immediately recognized that this was excellent, and had it typed up. He had superbly vindicated NASA’s trust in him.
While inspiration and a level of freedom were involved within the Earthrise photo and Genesis reading, behind their execution lay careful planning and professionalism.