Whether you bought a copy of LAUNCH Magazine on a newsstand, subscribed, or advertised with us, we thank you for your support in 2007. And we wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year! 

It seems fitting at this time that we should all remember the broadcast made by the Apollo 8 crew when they entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, 1968. This was the first time human beings had ever ventured beyond Earth’s orbit and seen our Blue Planet rising above the lunar surface. The crew ended their broadcast by reading from Genesis, and we believe it’s very appropriate to repeat it here:

William Anders: "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send 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, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Jim Lovell: "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 God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament from the waters, which were above the firmament: and it was so. ? And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman: "And God said, Let the waters under the heavens 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."
Borman adds: "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."

Play a recording of Apollo 8's Christmas message 

—Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at LAUNCH!