The Good Earth

It was a special Christmas message from far away.

John Scanlan

It was Christmas Eve 1968. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 9 years old and the eldest of six children living a humble existence in Stoutsville, Ohio. Earlier, Mom had stated that we could stay up and watch the events of Apollo 8 on our archaic black-and-white television. Apollo 8 had launched from the Kennedy Space Center with mission dates of Dec. 21–27, 1968. Carrying astronauts Frank Borman II, James Lovell Jr., and William Anders, it would be the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the moon. However, Apollo 8 was not intended to land on the moon; instead, its mission was to orbit the moon 10 times, and then safely return to Earth. Other accomplishments included: the…

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Good Old Days (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024

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