Original subtitles

[John F. Kennedy] We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

Look at that.

That's beautiful.

It's gotta be one of the most proud moments of my life. I guarantee you.

[man] History tells us that the year 1937

was not a good one for the planet Earth.

Japan invaded China.

In Germany, concentration camps were already operating.

A bloody civil war was escalating in Spain.

And in the United States, President Roosevelt had cause to say

that one-third of his people were ill-housed, ill-clad and ill-nourished.

And yet, in 1937, Picasso painted his masterpiece Guernica,

John Steinbeck published Of Mice and Men,

and the Golden Gate Bridge was opened.

1937, then, was not the cataclysmic year of the century.

There would be others, including one when, in the midst of worldwide unrest,

Americans were hoping to send three human beings

on the very first voyage from the Earth to the moon.

[man on radio] Strike leader, radio check.

[helicopters approach then recede]

.4-1-0 presently 1-5-0...

You'll have to move up.

Two hundred and thirty-two GI's killed and 900 wounded

makes for one of the heaviest weeks of the Vietnam War.

And it is not a week. it is just over two days, the past two days.

There are two more alert forces that are trying to push him out this way,

but he's heavily fortified, he's got a lot of ammo.

Fire's still coming from the buildings around a pair of officers' quarters.

[gunfire]

Here we are, we're right in the center of Saigon.

Uh... In fact, just opposite the presidential palace.

CIA men and MP's have gone into the embassy

and are trying to get the snipers out.

[machine guns firing]

There are two more alert forces that are trying to push him out this way.

- What's he got, small arms? - Small arms, automatic fire,

grenade launcher, hand grenades.

- Have you lost any men here? - Five, six people I've had wounded.

[helicopter approaches]

[explosion]

[man] The enemy, very deceitfully, has taken advantage of the Tet truce

in order to create maximum consternation...

[Lyndon Johnson] I'd point out to you the time has come

when we ought to unite,

when we ought to stand up and be counted,

when we ought to support our leaders, our government,

our men and our allies until aggression is stopped.

[reporter] ...has reported 542 US troops were killed in Vietnam last week,

the second highest weekly toll of the war.

All right. Let's go. What assumptions are we making?

That the cabin is pressurized.

So this is an emergency EVAC on the pad?

Yes, Mr. Borman.

- Okay, walk me through it. - Okay.

Release the lock pins. Unlatch the gearbox.

Set the actuator handle to "unlock."

Pump the actuator five or six times. Stow the handle. Open the hatch.

The whole procedure takes 20 seconds, tops.

Twenty seconds, huh?

Close the hatch, please.

I need a chair.

Let me see if I've got this.

It takes 20 seconds to open this hatch.

That's you standing upright on the factory floor.

This is me, strapped down inside the spacecraft.

Everything's upside down, above me and behind me.

Something goes wrong, I don't wanna look at a checklist.

I can't wait 20 seconds to EVAC.

Something's gotta open that hatch in a heartbeat.

We could try a gaseous nitrogen cartridge.

That could blow the hatch instantly.

Okay, what are we waiting for? Let's do it.

[man 2] We simply cannot afford to stop in the midst of a shooting war

and take time out to debate

whether our past actions were sound or unsound.

[protesters chanting]

[Johnson] I want, more than any human being in all the world...

to see the killing stopped.

[man 3] To be killed and to kill

in fighting which is not in the interest of the country you represent

is the ultimate tragedy.

[Martin Luther King] Save our national honor.

Stop the bombing and stop the war.

[anchorman] It is the biggest rocket anyone has ever seen,

a behemoth intended to transport men beyond the influence of the Earth.

Not 1968, but, God willing, next year,

a rocket just like the one out on pad 39A

will be taking men to the moon.

Today, of course, it will be taking nobody anywhere.

This unmanned test is simply to see if the great machine works,

if its engines ignite,

if it goes where it's supposed to when it is supposed to.

As a veteran of every manned launch of America's space program,

I can tell you that the mood here at the Cape is a bit subdued.

But the fireworks display we are about to see promises to be a good one.

[man on PA] Fifteen, 14, 13...

Ready for ignition and liftoff.

eleven, ten, nine...

Ignition sequence started.

seven, six, five, four, three...

All engines running.

one, liftoff.

- Liftoff. - I can feel the shock wave in my chest.

The windows are rattling.

Oh, my God! Look at that thing! Look at that thing go!

[engines roar]

[gunshot]

[reporter 2] It was confirmed that Martin Luther King

has been shot on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis.

[King] It really doesn't matter with me now,

because I've been to the mountaintop.

[cheering]

And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.

Longevity has its place.

But I'm not concerned about that now.

[bell tolls]

I just want to do God's will.

And He has allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I've looked over...

[reporter 3] Scattered violence broke out in some sections of the city...

[reporter 4] Within two hours of Dr. King's death...

[King] I may not get there with you,

but I want you to know tonight,

that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.

[cheering]

[Robert Kennedy] Martin Luther King dedicated his life...

to love and to justice

between fellow human beings.

For those of you who are black, you can be filled with bitterness...

and with hatred,

or we can make an effort and replace that violence

with an effort to understand...

compassion and love.

[clamor]

Look out for the gun!

- [whistle blows] - [people shouting]

A doctor! A doctor!

[boy 1 ] So who do you think's gonna win?

[boy 2] McCarthy. He'll definitely take Chicago.

[boy 1 ] What, are you crazy? The guy hasn't won in two or three weeks.

[boy 2] So who do you think's gonna win?

[boy 1 ] Definitely Kennedy. He's definitely taking the nomination.

Are you kidding? Bobby Kennedy lost the Oregon primary.

- So? - So no Kennedy's lost anything before.

And if he lost last night in California, then he can lose in Chicago too.

Can I have the paper, Mom?

He was leading when I went to bed last night.

There's no way the Democrats won't nominate a Kennedy.

It's gonna be Kennedy and Nixon all over again.

How much did he win by?

Mom.

Oh, my Lord.

Frank Borman.

- [woman] Frank, did you hear the news? -Susan?

- They shot Kennedy. - What?

Bobby Kennedy, he was shot last night at the Ambassador Hotel in LA.

Oh, no. My God.

- Uh... Who did it? - I don't know. They arrested somebody.

He had so many children, Frank.

What is going wrong this year? What is happening?

- Susan... - He should've never run.

He should've known somebody would do this.

- I'm sure he was aware of the risks. - Someone should've stopped him.

His wife, his mother, his brother, somebody.

Look, I can't talk right now.

Let's try and talk again tonight.

I'll call you as soon as I get back to the hotel, all right?

- All right. - Bye.

[line clicks]

Bye.

[man 4] May the angels take you into paradise,

may the martyrs come to welcome you on your way

and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem.

[bell tolls]

[Edward Kennedy] My brother need not be idealized

or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life.

Be remembered simply as a good and decent man...

who saw wrong and tried to right it...

saw suffering and tried to heal it...

saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him...

and who take him to his rest today,

pray that what he was to us...

what he wished for others,

will someday come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times

in many parts of this nation...

"Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?'

I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?"'

[anchorman] For the third straight day,

American jets have attacked targets near Hanoi and Haiphong in North Vietnam.

The US is now dropping a daily average of 3, 000 pounds...

This is what we think is their rocket.

They began rolling it out about three days ago.

It's probably on the pad by now.

Completely new designs. Not Vostok or Voskhod.

Uh-uh.

Russians have never built a launch vehicle this large.

It's four stages in a clustered engine configuration.

Multiple engines in multiple stages.

They'll have to test it, which means they've built more than one.

Any information how fast they can get the next one up?

If they're actually attempting a flight to the moon,

they'll have a window in early October.

Eight, maybe nine weeks?

Exactly.

MIT and Raytheon are fighting over the LEM computer system.

It has over a hundred defects in it. It's still too heavy.

It won't be ready to fly at least until early spring, and even that's a maybe.

- So we don't take it. - What?

Leave the LEM here. Fly to the moon without it.

There's a launch window in December.

Bypass the whole E mission with the LEM in high Earth orbit.

Take only the command and the service module all the way to the moon.

And back before the new year.

In one Hail Mary pass, we'd accomplish so many mission objectives that...

[laughs]

Tom Paine's gonna think we've lost our minds.

I see the logic of it.

If the Soviets fly around the moon first, they've done it, we lose.

Still, no easy task.

Well, this is the proposition.

Swap missions with Jim McDivitt.

He, Rusty and Dave test-fly the LEM in Earth orbit when it's finally ready,

and your crew takes spacecraft 103 into lunar orbit in December.

That sound like something you'd be willing to do?

Absolutely.

It's important for the program and it's important for the country.

I wouldn't take this mission if I didn't have every confidence in its success.

[boy] Wow. So, you'll be flying around the moon at Christmas?

- That sounds cool. - Yeah. Can I go with you?

Uh... Maybe next time.

Now... give me a moment alone here with your mother.

[boy] Yes, sir.

There you have it. All right?

Frank, of course. [laughs] This is your career.

It's your decision.

It's always been that way, so, all right.

I'd turn down the flight if I didn't have every confidence.

Yes, I know.

Every confidence in the spacecraft and the flight plan and the training.

You're a pilot, Frank.

You'd never turn down a mission like this.

You always have every confidence.

I just want you to come home.

Hey, you know our deal.

You worry about the custard, I'll worry about the flying.

All right, let's not go off half-cocked on this. Once more around the table.

All right, not long ago, you all were debating

if it was safe to put men on top of the Saturn V.

Pardon my playing devil's advocate, but what changed everybody's minds?

Why the sudden faith that Apollo 8 will fly to the moon

in less than five months from now?

Wernher?

Well, the next Saturn V booster will show the results of all the tests.

Once we decide to man it, it does not matter how far it goes.

It will get there.

Get where? We have no plans, no priorities, no mission rules.

There's no software yet. We can't even simulate it.

That may be true, but when it comes to the rocket, I have no reservations.

No reservations here either.

It'll be tight, but we'll be ready to launch in December.

This is all assuming that Apollo 7 is a success.

If we're gonna send a crew to the moon without the LEM,

it means we only have one engine.

There's no backup.

If the SPS goes bust, there's no way home, folks.

Come on, Chris. That's a worst-case scenario.

We can make sure the flight plan has several decision points...

Go or no-gos that will minimize the risks.

It may sound strange,

but in many ways, this is the least risky of any Apollo flight.

Least risky?

We're talking about putting three astronauts in one spacecraft

with only the SPS to get them back home.

That's the risk with any lunar mission, Chris.

But if we're gonna land on the moon by the end of next year,

we have to know if we can get there now.

I appreciate your concerns, but also, I'd like this to be unanimous, Chris.

[sighs]

Okay, let's go. Let's do it.

If we're gonna send these boys to the moon,

let's not just make a circumlunar flight to beat the Soviets.

We have to stay in lunar orbit for a while.

There's a lot to be done if we're gonna make a landing next year.

Okay.

Jesus, if word gets out we're planning to go to the moon for Christmas,

people will go nuts.

Up against the wall, motherfucker!

[crowd shouts]

[news theme music]

Good evening, this is the world.

The Soviet news agency, TASS,

announced the recovery of the Zond 5,

an unmanned spacecraft that landed in the Indian Ocean

three days after circumnavigating the moon.

The first to send an unmanned spacecraft around the moon and return it to Earth.

The recent success of Apollo 7's shakedown flight

has turned this command module

from a space capsule into a moon ship.

Russians do feel that Zond 5 prepared them for a manned orbit of the moon.

They could go as early as next Tues...

Russian technology is the dress rehearsal for a team cosmonauts...

[man] Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders

are on the verge of making...

an historic flight in late December.

This is a NASA bombshell,

an electrifying announcement that, while only made today,

has obviously been in the planning stages for quite some time.

The American spacecraft will not merely go round the moon and return,

but rather, using a series of maneuvers,

the crew will park themselves in lunar orbit for a day.

Ten orbits around the moon,

enough time to map out possible landing sites and approach vectors

for future Apollo missions

before firing their single, massive engine to return home.

- Apollo 8... - Apollo 8...

Apollo 8, three men in one craft traveling over half a million miles.

The challenge is daunting.

God willing, an achievement

that will equal those of Columbus, Magellan, Lindbergh and...

Richard Nixon!

[applause]

[Nixon] This will be an open administration.

Open to new ideas.

Open to men and women of both parties.

Open to the critics as well as those who support us.

We want to bridge the generation gap.

We want to bridge the gap between the races.

We want to bring America together, and I am confident that this task

is one that we can undertake and one in which we will be successful.

[man on radio] CDR, STC. We're good down here.

You guys all set?

Go.

[knocking]

[man] Mrs. Borman?

[gasps]

Mrs. Borman?

I'll be right there.

And here I am.

Great. All right, the camera crew is all set.

They promised not to turn this into an interview.

Believe me, they won't.

They want to film your reaction to the launch.

If they start asking questions, all you have to do...

I've discussed this with Frank, and I know what to do.

Yes, ma'am.

[people chattering]

Thirty-five seconds and counting, we'll lead up to a minute.

Mission sequence start at 3.9 seconds...

Would anybody like some more coffee?

- Okay. - if all goes well at zero.

We've just passed the 25-second mark in the count.

Twenty seconds. All aspects, we are still go at this time.

T-minus 15, 14, 13,

12, 1 1, ten, nine...

We have ignition sequence armed. The engines are armed.

Four, three, two, one.

[explosion]

[Johnson] I want, more than any human being in all the world...

to see the killing stopped.

They must move on or be destroyed. How long...

[reporter] Sixty-two Americans were killed in action...

[George Wallace] When I become the president,

I'll give you a passport to Hanoi,

and you go to Hanoi or you go to Moscow.

[Robert Kennedy] I am announcing today my candidacy...

[man] We take him to his rest today.

[King] Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

[man on radio] Looking good at two minutes.

All engines running at ten miles altitude.

Sixty miles downrange.

Roger, Houston.

S-ll ignition, Houston.

Roger that, 8.

Trajectory and guidance is looking good at three minutes.

Thank you, Houston. Apollo 8 is go.

First stage was very smooth. This one's smoother.

Understand. Smooth and smoother.

Looks good here, guys.

"Smooth and smoother?" Who are you kidding?

Jeez, that felt like we'd been in a train wreck.

Kick in the pants, huh?

[chuckling]

Predicted cutoff is 11 plus 28. Over.

Understand. Eleven plus 28.

Secondary glycol pump: off. Cabin air pressure return valve: on.

Cabin pressure, Bill?

I don't want you looking out the window. We got work to do.

- Let's see to the checklist. - Right.

Cabin pressure is 5.2 psi.

[inflating]

Aw, shoot! I must've caught it on the couch.

You sure won't drown now.

You can't deflate that in the cabin. It's all CO2.

It'll use up our air scrubbers.

Well, maybe I can rig it up to the urine dump.

Yeah, do that.

- Navy man. - Navy man.

- FIDO, Flight. - Go, Flight.

Are you happy with the maneuver?

Yes, Flight. We're getting just what we wanted to see.

All flight controllers, I want go, no-go for a translunar injection burn.

- Retro. - Go, Flight.

- Control. - Go.

- Guidance. - We're go.

- INCO. - Go, Flight.

- EECOM. - We're a go, Flight.

- GNC. - Go, Flight.

- FAO. - We're go, Flight.

- Network. - Network go.

- Surgeon. - Go, Flight.

CAPCOM, we are go for translunar injection.

Apollo 8, Houston. You are go for TLI.

You are go for the moon.

Roger, Houston. Apollo 8 is go.

[man on recording] ♪ Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

- [humming] - ♪ Jack Frost nipping at your nose

♪ Yuletide carols Being sung by a choir

Jim, what are you doing?

Trying to figure out where we are, Frank.

Okay, Antares, I have you right where I want you.

Are we clear of that debris from the S-IVB?

Yeah. I just gotta identify Sirius

and get our optical calibration.

- How's it going? - Oh...

Well, Buzz has my eye patch.

Okay. Let's see. What's my score?

What do you know, sports fans? Five balls.

[whistles] Nice work, Jim.

Uh, thanks, Mike. I do my best.

I've just been informed that your accuracy at navigation

has reached the theoretical limits of the system.

Well, that's very flattering, Mike.

Best guess is that you must be cheating somehow.

Mike, you caught me.

I came up here by myself last week to practice.

Well, we knew there had to be an explanation.

- I nailed it. That new system is... - [retches]

[groaning]

- [retches] - Oh, man.

There you go, Frank.

[groaning]

[retching]

Hey, those are supposed to be for emergencies.

[Borman groans]

Never mind.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Do you copy?

Houston, we had a little food spill here.

And we're gonna need a few minutes to do some clean-up.

Roger that, Apollo 8.

Frank?

- Frank, do you want me to tell them? - No.

Well, I think we have to.

I don't want the whole world to know I've got the damn 24-hour flu.

We could put a message in the tape dump.

It might take them a little longer to listen to it, but...

- it'd be more private. - Yeah. Okay.

[Lovell] Good idea, Bill.

Number one window is clean but has some lint on it.

Hey, Jimmy, this is no time to be listening

to a "how to speak French" tape.

I wish. It's the tape dump.

One other thing.

Frank's had some vomiting.

He's resting now, but he had some queasiness about 30 minutes ago.

Flight, EECOM.

- Go, EECOM. - We've got a...

It can't be the flu. The crew was inoculated against it before launch.

We don't want a sick crew going into lunar orbit.

Borman took one Seconal for his last sleep period.

Maybe it's a reaction to that.

- What'd he eat last? - His last meal was day two, meal C.

Beef stew with peas and gravy, corn niblets,

two cubes whole wheat bread, tea, chocolate pudding.

If we have contaminated food, we have a serious problem.

Look, we aren't gonna abort the mission because of some bad pudding.

Let's just wait and see if he gets better.

It's not just the vomiting that worries me.

If Borman has diarrhea, that could very quickly lead to dehydration.

Frank'll kill us if we bring him back now.

They're on a free-return.

We can make a decision well before lunar orbit insertion.

If he's still upchucking then, we'll know what to do.

Quarter-million miles into outer space, diarrhea's nothing to sneeze at.

I know.

Man, it's gotta smell bad up there.

[man] ♪ Cream-colored ponies And crisp apple strudels

♪ Doorbells and sleigh bells

♪ And schnitzels with noodles

♪ Wild geese that fly With the moon on their wings

♪ These are a few Of my favorite things

I just want to tell you all that the commander feels just fine.

[Collins] Very good, Apollo 8. We are happy to hear that.

And I feel great.

Bill Anders is our cameraman today.

Before he tapes all of our filters

over the TV lens, where I look back at you all,

Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell has a message for a special someone.

Happy birthday, Mother.

Cut to Borman. Show Dad again.

Only if he takes off that Snoopy cap.

[laughing]

Boys.

And the Earth is now passing through my window.

It's about the size of the end of my thumb.

Oh, my God.

- The water's sort of a royal blue. - Wow, Dad's far away.

The clouds, of course, are bright white.

- Are they gonna show the moon? - No. Dad can't see it yet.

Something about the angle of their flight path.

They'll have to show it tomorrow night when they're in orbit.

[Lovell] if I was a lonely traveler from some other planet,

what would I think about the Earth from this altitude,

whether or not I'd think it was inhabited?

They know we're here.

What I'm just curious about is whether I'd land on the blue

or the brown part of the Earth.

Better hope we land on the blue part.

Houston, Apollo 8. We've got a little time here.

I'd like to jump ahead in our flight plan

and get us orientated for lunar orbit insertion.

[Collins] Roger that, Apollo 8.

Frank, before you get started, I have a message here from Susan.

She says, "The custard is in the oven at 350." Over.

Uh... No comprende, Houston. Over.

Your wife says, "The custard is in the oven."

[laughs] Oh...

Roger that.

Thank you for the message, Michael.

Frank is doing just fine Susan.

I've seen a lot of women lose their husbands and become widows.

And you know what? I think I may be next.

I have a feeling this is just my turn.

We all share some of that feeling, Susan.

I won't lie to you.

Anytime we send human beings into space, the bottom line is it's a risk.

Well, I appreciate your honesty, Chris,

but I know what a free-return trajectory is.

So why don't you just slingshot them around the moon and bring them home.

Don't stop them in orbit.

It'd be a waste to go to the moon and not go into orbit.

Frank knows that. That's the mission Frank signed up for.

Frank is a pilot. He'd take any mission he's given.

If you're worried about the spacecraft, Susan,

I got to tell you, it is working perfectly.

So far.

We're not staying in orbit longer than we have to to get the data we need.

Ten orbits. Less than a day.

Then the moment comes when the engine has to fire.

You say everything is working fine, but what happens if it doesn't?

We've already done a course correction with the SPS engine.

It's working perfectly.

Do you realize what will happen if you put those men into lunar orbit

and you can't get them out again?

Have you thought about that?

You'll ruin the moon forever.

No one will ever be able to look up at it

without thinking of those dead astronauts.

Susan, valves open inside the service module. That's all that has to happen.

The engine doesn't have to spark or ignite or light up.

It's hypergolic. The hydrazine mixes with the nitrogen tetroxide

and it can't keep from burning.

All we do is open the valves, and Frank comes home.

If you're wrong, Chris...

I won't even have his body to bury.

[Collins] Apollo 8, this is Houston.

Stand by for a go on lunar orbit insertion.

Loss of signal is expected in 37 seconds.

[Borman] Roger, Houston. We're standing by for that go.

[no audible dialogue]

[no audible dialogue]

[Susan] "To whom it may concern.

In the event that Apollo 8 does not return from the moon,

I've prepared the following statement

to accompany the official NASA press release.

'Frank Borman was everything a man was supposed to be.

He was a caring husband,

a loving father,

a career pilot,

and a dedicated astronaut.

He did not fly for the glory or thrill.

He flew for the achievement found in a job well done

and because his country needed him.

That the moon took his life and the lives of his friends,

Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, saddens us and makes this world a lesser place.

It is better that he is gone now, for he could not have lived with the knowledge

"that the mission that was his command had failed so tragically. "'

Oh, my God.

Wow, that's pretty.

[laughs]

Are you getting any of this? Come on. Hurry up. Get a picture of it.

Hey, that picture's not scheduled.

- [laughs] - [camera clicks]

Have you got it?

[clicking]

Take several of them, now. Okay, where's that other camera?

- Frank, you got that other camera? - Calm down, Lovell.

- Get the film. Take your time. - Give this one to me. Let me take one.

Oh, darn. I'm out of film.

Think you got it?

It'll come up again.

All right, Anders, let's get some film in these cameras.

Apollo 8, Houston. Do you copy?

Eight, this is Houston. Do you copy?

Houston, this is Apollo 8.

- We are now in lunar orbit. - [applause]

[Collins] What does the old moon look like from 60 miles?

Okay, Houston, the moon is essentially gray, no color.

Looks like plaster of Paris.

Or a beach, a sort of grayish beach sand.

We're seeing a lot of detail right now.

[Borman] I think the moon is a different thing to each one of us.

I know my own impression is that it's a...

a vast, lonely...

forbidding-type existence...

or expanse of nothing.

And it certainly would not appear to be a very inviting place to live or work.

Jim, what have you thought most about?

Well, Frank, my thoughts are very similar.

The vast loneliness of the moon up here is awe-inspiring,

and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.

The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.

The sky up here is also rather forbidding.

An expanse of blackness with no stars visible when...

we're flying over the moon in daylight.

[Collins] We understand, Apollo 8.

We have a magnificent picture here.

For all the people back on Earth...

the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send to you.

"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

and that it was good,

"and God divided the light from the darkness."

"And God called the light 'day'"

and the darkness he called 'night.'

And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said,

'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters

and let it divide the waters from the waters. '

And it was so.

And God called the firmament heaven.

"And the evening and the morning were the second day."

"And God said, 'Let the waters under the heaven"

be gathered together unto one place

and let the dry land appear, ' and it was so.

And God called the dry land earth.

And the gathering together of the waters called He seas.

"And God saw that it was good."

And from the crew of Apollo 8...

we close with good night...

good luck...

a merry Christmas...

and God bless all of you...

all of you on the good Earth.

[Collins] Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

We've reviewed all your systems, and you are go for TEI.

That's good news. Apollo 8 is go.

Everything looks good going over the hill. Good luck, guys.

Roger, Houston. Thank you.

After ten revolutions around the moon, one task will remain for the crew

upon which their lives depend.

The firing of the engine.

The crucial four-minute burn of the SPS engine,

to begin astronauts Borman, Lovell and Anders on their long voyage home,

takes place here on the far side of the moon,

out of sight but certainly not out of the minds of Mission Control

and all of us here.

We will not know Apollo 8's status

until the spacecraft comes from around the far side of the moon

and acquisition of signal is achieved.

If the astronaut radio voices' telemetry data

comes later than 38 minutes after loss of signal,

it means quite simply that the engine did not get a good burn

and Apollo 8 is still in orbit around the moon.

The SPS engine must fire.

There is no backup, there is no contingency in case of its failure.

All we can do is wait.

[no audible dialogue]

[Lovell] Houston, Apollo 8.

Please be advised, there is a Santa Claus.

[excited chatter]

Thank you, Apollo 8.

You'd be the best to know.

[laughing]

[Collins] Apollo 8, Houston.

[Borman] Go ahead, Houston.

You received a number of congratulatory telegrams in the past few hours.

If you don't mind, I'd like to read a couple to you.

That sounds good. Go ahead.

Here's one that reads...

"Congratulations on one of the greatest achievements made by man.

You have turned into reality the dream of Robert Goddard."

And it's signed "Charles Lindbergh and Ann Morrow Lindbergh."

This one is addressed to Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders.

"Good luck and Godspeed."

And it's from Lyndon Baines Johnson.

And you got one from a Mrs. Valerie Pringle.

I'm sure that's not a name any of you recognize.

It's a telegram that one of the public affairs officials at NASA picked out

because he liked it.

Mrs. Pringle writes, very simply...

"You saved 1968."