On December 24, Apollo8 went into lunar orbit. The crew made ten orbits of the Moon in twenty hours before returning to Earth. The mission is known for the "Earthrise" photograph taken by Bill Anders of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon as the command module orbited the Moon, and for the televised reading from Genesis in lunar orbit, released for worldwide broadcast. About six weeks before the launch, NASA's deputy director for public affairs, Julian Scheer, had told Borman that a television broadcast was scheduled for this time, and suggested that they find something appropriate to say. Borman had consulted with Simon Bourgin, who worked at the United States Information Agency, and had accompanied Borman and Lovell on a goodwill tour of the Far East after the Gemini7 mission. Bourgin, in turn, consulted Joe Laitin, a former United Press International reporter, who suggested that the Apollo8 crew read from the Book of Genesis. The text was transcribed onto fireproof paper for the broadcast. "One of the things that was truly historic", Borman later joked, "was that we got that good Catholic Bill Anders to read from the King James Version of the bible."