No human had ever seen Earth like this before.
Every December, people around the world celebrate the holiday season by sending greetings to family and friends. But in 1968 something unusual happened. The world received a Christmas greeting from the Moon.

The message was from the crew of Apollo 8, which was 240,000 miles from Earth. On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8 was circling the Moon in an orbit just sixty-nine miles above the cratered surface. The three astronauts on board were all looking forward to the trip home, which would begin in the morning. But first they were going to make a final broadcast for television. Back on Earth, half a billion people were waiting to see it.

Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon. The crew's mission was to test the ship, which was made up of a command module and a service module. In future missions, a lunar module would be added to land the first astronauts on the Moon. Anything might go wrong. So far, nothing had. But the crucial firing of the rocket that would return the men to Earth was still to come. If the rocket engine failed, the men would be trapped in lunar orbit with no hope of rescue.

The commander of Apollo 8, Frank Borman, knew the world would be watching. He had brought along a passage to read, but he had been too busy to plan the whole telecast. Then he and his crew, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, saw something wonderful as they orbited the Moon. Borman knew at once what he wanted to do. But it would take some planning. It had to be timed just right.

Borman began the telecast. First, each man gave his impressions of the Moon. Next, the astronauts pointed out different features on the surface as it slowly passed below them. All this time, the planned moment had been drawing closer and closer. When the time arrived, Borman and his crew were ready.

Anders announced that the crew of Apollo 8 had a message for Earth. In turn, Anders, Lovell, and Borman read the Bible passage Borman had brought with him. It was the story of Creation from the Book of Genesis. As the men read, a camera on Apollo 8 was pointed forward, toward the Moon's horizon. The wonderful sight the men had marveled at was now on television screens around the world.

No one on Earth had ever seen it before. There, above the lifeless lunar landscape, the distant Earth was rising. It looked like a fragileholiday ornament.

That image was a Christmas present to the world from the crew of Apollo 8.

• celebrate [´selibreit] vt.庆祝；表扬；赞美 (初中英语单词)
• holiday [´hɔlidi] n.假日，假期，节日 (初中英语单词)
• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
• apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• mission [´miʃən] n.代表团；使馆vt.派遣 (初中英语单词)
• commander [kə´mɑ:ndə] n.指挥员，司令员 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• creation [kri´eiʃən] n.创作；作品；创造 (初中英语单词)
• horizon [hə´raizən] n.地平线；范围；视野 (初中英语单词)
• broadcast [´brɔ:dkɑ:st] v.&n.散布 a.广播的 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• landscape [´lændskeip] n.风景；景色；风景画 (高中英语单词)
• drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
• lifeless [´laifləs] a.无生命的，无生气的 (英语四级单词)
• fragile [´frædʒail] a.易碎的；虚弱的 (英语四级单词)
• rocket [´rɔkit] n.火箭；火箭发动机 (英语六级单词)