"God Bless All Of You On The Good Earth": the unforgettable Christmas Eve live telecast from the Moon, 21-27 December 1968

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, printed 1968, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso and NASA HQ caption numbered "68-H-1409" on a separate original sheet, 25,4 x 20,3 cm

The hand held B&W TV camera inside the Apollo 8 Command Module transmitted the first live images showing another world from its orbit.

In one of the most overwhelming moments in human history, the Apollo 8 crew ended their Christmas TV broadcast from the Moon reading the Genesis as the spacecraft was approaching the dramatic moonscape of the nearside terminator over the Sea of Tranquillity.
“To me [the Genesis] reading was that we’re trying to say something sort of fundamental. Something that will stop and grab people’s guts and say, hey this isn’t just a little whistle-around-the-Earth space shot; this is man’s [...] first step away from his Home Planet. I mean, we’re talking about a second genesis, if you will.”
William Anders (Chaikin, Voices, p. 45).

From the mission transcript during Christmas TV broadcast:
086:06:40 Anders: 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.
086:06:56 Anders: In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness...