Christmas Eve will be the 50th anniversary ofApollo 8,your firstApollomission and the first to orbit the moon.
We had pictures before of the far side of the moon, so we knew what to expect.
What we didnt expect was to see the Earth as it really is.
I put my thumb up to the window and could hide the Earth.
That told me in a moment just exactly what we are in the universe.
Did your philosophy change?
Theres an old saying, I hope to go to heaven when I die.
Suddenly, it dawned on me that we went to heaven when we were born!
It appeared to me that God had given mankind sort of a stage to perform on.
I guess how that play will turn out is up to us.
You reached the moon on the ill-fatedApollo 13in 1970 but never touched it.
My career goal was toland on the moon.
I think I wouldve retired a couple of years after that, but I didnt.
For about five years, I was kind of disappointed.
What was your most anxious moment?
But we didnt have a solution yet.
Of course, it turned out to be possible.
Houston, we have a problem became an indelible catchphrase.
I was coming into the command module and Jack was talking with mission control.
He said, OK, Houston, weve had a problem here.
But mission control did not hear him This is Houston.
Say again, c’mon.
I spoke for Jack: Houston, weve had a problem.
The problem was that we were losing oxygen.
One of the tanks was empty, and the second one was going down.
The quote became iconic because it fits into millions of situations people experience every day.
Every time you turn around, you seem to hear, Houston, we have a problem.
I wish I had copyrighted it!
