55 years ago, Tucson's Frank Borman and crew showed 'Earthrise' to the world

Fifty-five years ago, on Christmas Eve of 1968, Tucson astronaut and hometown legend Frank Borman and his Apollo 8 crew maneuvered into lunar orbit.

As they circled the moon, they read from the Book of Genesis in a live telecast from the orbiter:

“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.”

Borman ended the broadcast with, “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.”

It was on the crew’s fourth of 10 orbits that astronaut William Anders snapped the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing a blue and white Earth rising above the gray lunar landscape.

“It’s arguably the most iconic photograph of the 20th century: the Earth rising above the Moon’s bleached and desolate horizon, a breathtaking jewel of color,” Smithsonian magazine has written.

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Borman later wrote about how the Earth looked from afar:

“We were the first humans to see the world in its majestic totality, an intensely emotional experience for each of us. We said nothing to each other, but I was sure our thoughts were identical — of our families on that spinning globe. And maybe we shared another thought I had, This must be what God sees.”

The mission commanded by Borman paved the way for the first moon landing the following year.

Borman, who grew up in Tucson, died this year, on Nov. 7, at the age of 95.