On Christmas Eve in 1968, Apollo VIII became the first manned vehicle to circle the moon. Because it was nearly Christmas, the 3-man crew was asked to say something appropriate to mark their historic mission. From thousands of miles in outer space, Genesis 1:1-10 was broadcast to earth: “In the beginning God . . .” In his autobiography Countdown, Frank Bowman, one of the three Apollo VIII astronauts, explains why they read from the Scriptures: “There was one more impression we wanted to transmit: our feeling of closeness to the Creator of all things.”