Robert A. Black, Mathematical Storyteller

This Christmas season is a special one in space history. It was 40 years ago, Christmas 1968, when Apollo 8 sent the first human beings to the Moon. They didn't land - the Lunar Modules weren't ready yet - but they made ten orbits and sent back the first TV transmission from another world. For the first time, people could see the entire Earth as a planet floating in space. They also read from the King James Bible on Christmas Eve. There are lots of online commemorations you can check out if you're interested: National Public Radio ran a story on Morning Edition that you can listen to here . There's also an online video bonus story. David Livingston welcomed space historian Robert Zimmerman to Monday's edition of The Space Show , to talk about Apollo 8 and the Bible reading in particular. You can listen to that here . Finally, NASA-TV is running Apollo 8 coverage all day today and tomorrow. You can check out the schedule here . Merry Christmas, everybody!

Okay, it hasn't happened yet, but that hasn't stopped kids from wondering what space is like, and it hasn't stopped teachers from wanting to teach them. In the latest edition of the internet radio program, The Space Show , host David Livingston talks to the authors of a new book, Kids to Space Mission Plans: An Educator's Guide . As the name suggests, it's all about how teachers can put more space-related materials into their classrooms. I picked up a copy of the first Kids to Space book at Worldcon a couple of years ago, and it would have been really handy when I was writing Lunar Pioneers . The broadcast is available for download, so be sure to check it out. And what will those kids do when they grow up and become astronauts? Space.com has a new article describing ideas currently floating around for the first permanent lunar station. The forerunner to Clementine Colony, perhaps? Be sure to check that out, too.