three, two, one, zero. we have liftoff. clear the tower. >> there is the rumble in the building. it looks good. this building is shaking under us. a camera platform is shaking but what a beautiful flight. we interrupt this program to present another in a series of unborn television transmissions from the space capsule brought to you by tang, the breakfast drink. apollo 8, 175,450 miles from earth and about to be pulled in by the moon's gravity. the astronauts have now truly left the earth and its gravity. for this second telecast, turned apollo 8 so it faces the earth. here is communications coming through. >> you're seeing the atmosphere, i can see the southwestern part of the united states and it appears now that the east coast is cloudy. >> apollo 8 around christmas 1968 showed us the creators of the moon and space at the same time. they spoke to us and read the book of genesis.