Although they were all earthbound last week, the U.S. spacemen were still flying high. Apollo 8 Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders were whisked along a heroes' route that took them to the White House, an appearance before Congress, a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan, a reception at the United Nations and a state dinner hosted by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. And even before the glow from Apollo 8 subsided, NASA named Astronauts Michael Collins, 38, Neil Armstrong, 38, and Edwin Aldrin, 37, as the crew of what could be an even more historic flight: the Apollo 11 mission, which may well land the first men on the moon.
At the White House ceremony, President Johnson hailed the Apollo 8 astronauts as "history's boldest explorers" and awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to each man. Then the astronauts gave the President an award. "Jim Lovell has a picture of the ranch I think you would like to have," said Borman. Lovell stepped forward with a color picture of the barren lunar landscape below a blue and white earth in the sky.
Before the joint session of Congress, Borman urged continued support of the space program beyond the moon landing. "Exploration is really the essence of human spirit," he said, "and I hope that we never forget that." In a lighter vein, he described the Christmas Eve reading from Genesis and a particularly "historic" accomplishment: "We got that good Roman Catholic Bill Anders to read from the King James version." Then, looking down at the Supreme Court Justices seated in the House chamber, Borman had an afterthought. "But now that I see the gentlemen in the front row, I'm not sure we should have read from the Bible at all."
Volcanic Activity? At their press conference in the State Department auditorium, the astronauts gave a performance almost as remarkable as their feats in space. As they took turns explaining features on their moon pictures and answering the questions of newsmen, they were articulate, gently humorous and impressively well-informed about lunar geology. Anders avoided taking sides in the controversy over whether the moon's features are of primarily volcanic or meteoric origin. He reported seeing what seemed to be lava flows and cinder cones, and said that photographs of the back side of the moon revealed "anamolous dark regions that may indicate new lava flows, volcanic activity." But he had seen impact craters, too, and he noted that "there are enough holes on the moon for both theories."
Lovell took the occasion to put an end to speculation that the lunar surface was colored, and that the "sunrise glow" he had reported from Apollo 8 indicated the moon may have a trace of atmosphere. "The only color that we could see in the universe from our vantage point was the earth," he said. The glow, Lovell now believes, was actually the corona of the sun, visible just before lunar sunrise. He also observed that "the stars don't even twinkle out near the moon," a strong indication that there is no lunar atmosphere.