A veteran of two spaceflights, Gemini 7 and Apollo 8. On Gemini 7 he
flew with
Jim Lovell for a duration record of 14 days and rendezvoused with Gemini 6. On Apollo 8 he again flew with
Jim Lovell and
Bill Anders becoming the first men to leave earth orbit and circle the moon.
They made a memorable Christmas Eve television broadcast showing the
lunar surface and reading from the first chapter of Genesis.