Thanks Bernhard this was very interesting!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

On Tue, Dec 25, 2018, 11:27 B J <[email protected] wrote:

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders reached and went into orbit around the moon, becoming the first to do so. The next day, the Service Propulsion System was fired, enabling them to start their return trip.

The mission was made possible by the work of someone who was born on December 25, 1642. His name was Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist that ever lived. If I recall correctly, the crew gave Sir Isaac credit as it was his laws of motion and gravitation that allowed Apollo 8 to go from the earth to the moon and then return.

Aside from being the first time that men reached the moon, Apollo 8 is likely best remembered for this:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181224.html

Thank you, gentlemen and thank you, Sir Isaac. I was a teenager in junior high school when it happened. It was a grand time to be alive.

73s, Merry Christmas, Frohes Weihnachtsfest, and joyeux Noel

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

And here is an interesting video about the taking of this most iconic photo:

https://youtu.be/dE-vOscpiNc 73Rick Tejera (K7TEJ)Saguaro Astronomy ClubWww.saguaroastro.orgThunderbird Astronomy ClubWww.w7tbc.org

-------- Original message --------From: B J [email protected] Date: 12/25/18 09:27 (GMT-07:00) To: amsat-bb [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Christmas 1968: Apollo 8 On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders reached and went into orbit around the moon, becoming the first to do so.  The next day, the Service Propulsion System was fired, enabling them to start their return trip.

The mission was made possible by the work of someone who was born on December 25, 1642.  His name was Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist that ever lived.  If I recall correctly, the crew gave Sir Isaac credit as it was his laws of motion and gravitation that allowed Apollo 8 to go from the earth to the moon and then return.

Aside from being the first time that men reached the moon, Apollo 8 is likely best remembered for this:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181224.html

Thank you, gentlemen and thank you, Sir Isaac.  I was a teenager in junior high school when it happened.  It was a grand time to be alive.

73s, Merry Christmas, Frohes Weihnachtsfest, and joyeux Noel

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Agreed! We were taking a family Christmas vacation at Lake Tahoe that week. Rental house, no TV. As I recall, all we had was an AM radio. But I very clearly remember standing outside between storms, knee-deep in snow, looking up at the nearly full moon, and thinking, wow, there are three guys in orbit up there!

Greg KO6TH

B J wrote:

It was one of those events in which people stopped for a few moments and said "Wow!" because they not only thought it was amazing but they knew that they were seeing history being made. It was front-page news and regular TV programming was preempted to bring coverage of what was happening.