NASA celebrated one of the most important events in the agency's space exploration history Monday, reliving the 1968 Apollo 8 mission.

According to the Associated Press, James Lovell, an 85-year-old retired astronaut who once helped man the Apollo 8, recited his Christmas Eve broadcast from Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. This year marked the 45th anniversary of the first time men ever orbited the moon.

"The idea of bringing people together by a flight to the moon where we encompassed everybody in our thoughts is still very valid today," Lovell said, according to the AP. "The words that we read are very appropriate."

On Christmas Eve, 1968, Lovell, Frank Borman and Bill Anders circled the moon 10 times and read passages from the Bible's Book of Genesis while a television camera captured the crater-filled lunar surface. From the moon's orbit, the astronauts thought Genesis would be appropriate because of their view of the Earth. As such, they read the Bible's account of the Earth's beginning.

"It's a foundation of Christianity, Judaism and Islam," Lovell said of the choice to read from Genesis. "It is the foundation of most of the world's religions... They all had that basis of the Old Testament."

During the mission, NASA also captured one of the most iconic photos the space exploration agency has ever snapped. "Earthrise" shows the Earth appearing over the moon's horizon.

The Apollo 8 mission was the precursor to the Apollo 11 mission that took Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins to land on the surface of the moon.

Lovell took part in missions including the Gemini 7 flight in 1965, as well as the Apollo 8 and 13. The AP reported the retired astronaut delivered the same closing message Monday as he did in 1968 with his Apollo 8 crewmates.

"From the crew of Apollo 8," Lovell said, "we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."