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It’s referring to the Christmas Eve broadcast of Apollo 8, the first manned mission in orbit around the moon, another large milestone in spaceflight and for hum

It’s referring to the Christmas Eve broadcast of Apollo 8, the first manned mission in orbit around the moon, another large milestone in spaceflight and for humanity overall [0]. The American space program likes to refer to its past accomplishments and this is the biggest and most complex space telescope ever launched. It’s also tradition to use “big” and inspiring language, so calling back to that era makes for a more compelling message. 0 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8

capableweb 5y ago
That broadcast seems to even have it's own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading > On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 read from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the Moon Seems no one was happy with what they came up with, so they ended up going with Genesis part from the bible instead. Not everyone was happy with that though: > Madalyn Murray O'Hair, founder of American Atheists, responded by suing the United States government, alleging violations of the First Amendment Ended up being dismissed by all the courts though. But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve?
- NikolaeVarius 5y ago
  I'm an Atheist. At some point you will have to realize that religious people exist, and many astronauts are devout Catholic.
- kuschku 5y ago
  > But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? As atheist: even if you don’t believe in christianity, the bible is still a book with some stories that have made a massive impact and which can evoke deep emotion in many readers/listeners. Especially in such an emotional context as venturing out into space.
  - Grismar 5y ago
    The same would be true for the Torah, Quran or any other major religious text (including non-Abrahamitic ones) - would you have brought the same defense, if only one of those had been quoted, if you are perfectly honest?
    - atonse 5y ago
      I’m a pretty strong atheist. It’s odd to me too. However I’m answering why the Bible over other religious texts. That one at least feels obvious. The people reading it were likely Christian. The majority of the people listening would’ve been Christian. The majority of the people that footed the bill would’ve been Christian. Like others have said, you don’t have to believe in the existence of a diety to feel moved by words from some religious texts.
    - jbay808 5y ago
      The Book of Genesis is from the Torah though, isn't it?
    - kuschku 5y ago
      Genesis is common to all abrahamistic religions, so it has the widest appeal. Personally I’d have appreciated a quote from any other text equally, but I’m going to assume that a US government official reading a non-christian text publicly might have effects on coming elections.
- kortex 5y ago
  I don't believe in an Abrahamic creator-God but I think the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8 is extremely moving. I don't interpret it as being particularly religious or Abrahamic. "Let there be light" is, IMHO, a universal notion of our strange existence in the cosmos. Maybe it means creation to some, the big bang to others. It's 3-4000 year old poetry (likely long predating the old testament in oral tradition).
- ramesh31 5y ago
  Oppenheimer quoted the Baghavad Ghita in his first statement after the Trinity test. Scientists are humans too.
  - cscurmudgeon 5y ago
    Funnily, that is probably the only religious text that is not religious.
    - cscurmudgeon 5y ago
      The local knee jerk reactionary downvoting is hilarious and expected given the faux intellectualism that is now rampant here. Since I can't edit my original comment, here you go. There is a ton of wisdom in the Gita. https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-atheists-462b0303be75 https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-athei...
    - HideousKojima 5y ago
      I've read the Bhagavad Gita and it spends a significant amount of time talking about karma and reincarnation. Not sure how you could see it as non-religious unless you did to it what Thomas Jefferson did to the Bible.
      - cscurmudgeon 5y ago
        There is a lot of non religious content in there. https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-atheists-462b0303be75 https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-athei... The point of Gita's message is to NOT worry about karma and reincarnation.
        HideousKojima 5y ago
        And there's plenty of non-religious content in the Bible, but no one in their right mind would call it a non-religious text.
  - avar 5y ago
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? It may be confusing because of the attitude toward empirical science of some prominent strains of American fundamentalism (and the way the media often reduces that to a narrative of a fundamental religion vs. science conflict), but having religious belief about the metaphysical nature of reality and pursuing scientific understanding of its physical nature have often been things that go together. I mean, consider Georges Lemaître.
- HideousKojima 5y ago
  >But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? "A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion." - Francis Bacon And for a clearcut example of this, Isaac Newton figured out calculus and classical mechanics, but also spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find secret messages hidden in the Bible.
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
    From my understanding, Newton eventually decided he'd figured out everything there was to figure out (which was kind of true), then he got bored, so he started to dabble in alchemy and bible things.
- TedShiller 5y ago
  Being a scientist and being religious are not mutually exclusive.
  - Intermernet 5y ago
    True, but the intersection of the Venn diagram has only shrunk throughout history.
    - TedShiller 5y ago
      Has it? That would be an interesting diagram but I wouldn’t assume anything
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  You'd be surprised how many scientists throughout history were motivated by the notion of better knowing the nature of god.

capableweb 5y ago

That broadcast seems to even have it's own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading > On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 read from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the Moon Seems no one was happy with what they came up with, so they ended up going with Genesis part from the bible instead. Not everyone was happy with that though: > Madalyn Murray O'Hair, founder of American Atheists, responded by suing the United States government, alleging violations of the First Amendment Ended up being dismissed by all the courts though. But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve?

NikolaeVarius 5y ago
I'm an Atheist. At some point you will have to realize that religious people exist, and many astronauts are devout Catholic.
kuschku 5y ago
> But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? As atheist: even if you don’t believe in christianity, the bible is still a book with some stories that have made a massive impact and which can evoke deep emotion in many readers/listeners. Especially in such an emotional context as venturing out into space.
- Grismar 5y ago
  The same would be true for the Torah, Quran or any other major religious text (including non-Abrahamitic ones) - would you have brought the same defense, if only one of those had been quoted, if you are perfectly honest?
  - atonse 5y ago
    I’m a pretty strong atheist. It’s odd to me too. However I’m answering why the Bible over other religious texts. That one at least feels obvious. The people reading it were likely Christian. The majority of the people listening would’ve been Christian. The majority of the people that footed the bill would’ve been Christian. Like others have said, you don’t have to believe in the existence of a diety to feel moved by words from some religious texts.
  - jbay808 5y ago
    The Book of Genesis is from the Torah though, isn't it?
  - kuschku 5y ago
    Genesis is common to all abrahamistic religions, so it has the widest appeal. Personally I’d have appreciated a quote from any other text equally, but I’m going to assume that a US government official reading a non-christian text publicly might have effects on coming elections.
kortex 5y ago
I don't believe in an Abrahamic creator-God but I think the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8 is extremely moving. I don't interpret it as being particularly religious or Abrahamic. "Let there be light" is, IMHO, a universal notion of our strange existence in the cosmos. Maybe it means creation to some, the big bang to others. It's 3-4000 year old poetry (likely long predating the old testament in oral tradition).
ramesh31 5y ago
Oppenheimer quoted the Baghavad Ghita in his first statement after the Trinity test. Scientists are humans too.
- cscurmudgeon 5y ago
  Funnily, that is probably the only religious text that is not religious.
  - cscurmudgeon 5y ago
    The local knee jerk reactionary downvoting is hilarious and expected given the faux intellectualism that is now rampant here. Since I can't edit my original comment, here you go. There is a ton of wisdom in the Gita. https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-atheists-462b0303be75 https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-athei...
  - HideousKojima 5y ago
    I've read the Bhagavad Gita and it spends a significant amount of time talking about karma and reincarnation. Not sure how you could see it as non-religious unless you did to it what Thomas Jefferson did to the Bible.
    - cscurmudgeon 5y ago
      There is a lot of non religious content in there. https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-atheists-462b0303be75 https://michaeldevfay.medium.com/the-bhagavad-gita-for-athei... The point of Gita's message is to NOT worry about karma and reincarnation.
      - HideousKojima 5y ago
        And there's plenty of non-religious content in the Bible, but no one in their right mind would call it a non-religious text.
- avar 5y ago
dragonwriter 5y ago
> But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? It may be confusing because of the attitude toward empirical science of some prominent strains of American fundamentalism (and the way the media often reduces that to a narrative of a fundamental religion vs. science conflict), but having religious belief about the metaphysical nature of reality and pursuing scientific understanding of its physical nature have often been things that go together. I mean, consider Georges Lemaître.
HideousKojima 5y ago
>But still, I cannot believe that people who are supposedly scientists start quoting the bible when they are themselves involved in maybe one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. How does that resolve? "A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion." - Francis Bacon And for a clearcut example of this, Isaac Newton figured out calculus and classical mechanics, but also spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find secret messages hidden in the Bible.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
  From my understanding, Newton eventually decided he'd figured out everything there was to figure out (which was kind of true), then he got bored, so he started to dabble in alchemy and bible things.
TedShiller 5y ago
Being a scientist and being religious are not mutually exclusive.
- Intermernet 5y ago
  True, but the intersection of the Venn diagram has only shrunk throughout history.
  - TedShiller 5y ago
    Has it? That would be an interesting diagram but I wouldn’t assume anything
jazzyjackson 5y ago
You'd be surprised how many scientists throughout history were motivated by the notion of better knowing the nature of god.