Earthrise

[caddyman]

Today is the fortieth anniversary of Earthrise, the first time it had been seen by human - or, frankly, anyone else's - eyes. The photo was taken by the astronauts of Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968 as they orbited the moon. Before that there had been a few pictures of Earthrise taken from satellites, but this was the first time anyone had actually been in a position to see it directly.

So, forty years later, on Christmas Eve 2008, let's remind ourselves of the picture that reminded people just how small our home is in the vastness of space.



BBC article here.

Comments

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

|Oh I remember seeing that and being totally blown away by it. I had been an avid follower of the Gemini and Apollo programmes and had already decided that when the moon mission was on TV I would not miss a second - and I didn't.

See, now you know why I nagged fencingsculptor for pictures of rockets...

[fencingsculptor.livejournal.com]

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

Frank Borman