Dec. 24, 1968: Christmas Eve Greetings From Lunar Orbit

From This Day In Tech:

1968: The crew of Apollo 8 delivers a live, televised Christmas Eve broadcast after becoming the first humans to orbit another space body.

Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders made their now-celebrated broadcast after entering lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, which might help explain the heavy religious content of the message. After announcing the arrival of lunar sunrise, each astronaut read from the Book of Genesis.

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Astronauts Follow Apollo 8 Crew's Example By Spreading Christmas Cheer In Space

A Nasa TV grab shows the Expedition 22 crew getting into the
Christmas spirit with santa hats and presents

From The Daily Mail:

Three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station bearing gifts today, just in time for Christmas.

The three wise men floated through the passage shortly after the hatches opened between the newly-arrived Soyuz spacecraft and the orbiter.

Soyuz commander Oleg Kotov entered first wearing a Santa hat and carrying a Christmas wreath. Next came Soichi Noguchi came in a Santa hat with a white bag of presents slung over his shoulder, followed by Nasa astronaut Timothy Creamer wearing an elf hat and elf ears.

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Apollo 8 Crew Remembers Historic Mission Live On NASA TV

From SpaceRef.com:

WASHINGTON -- Almost 40 years after NASA executed the bold decision to send the first human flight of the gigantic Saturn V rocket to the moon, the crew of Apollo 8 will reunite as part of a special public program produced in cooperation with the Newseum in Washington.

The program features Apollo 8 crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders. It will be broadcast live from the Newseum on NASA Television and www.nasa.gov on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 1:30 p.m. EST. The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

The event is part of the Newseum's commemoration of NASA's 50th anniversary and is open to visitors. Seating in the Newseum's Knight TV Studio is limited and seats will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional overflow seating will be available throughout the Newseum.

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