On Dec. 24, 1968 - 45 years ago this Christmas eve - Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth's orbit and circle the moon.
The mission was historic, but even more memorable is the famous "Earthrise" photo that resulted, showing Earth for the first time rising above the lunar landscape.
Until that point, no humans eyes had ever seen our blue marble from space.
In Life's "100 Photographs That Changed the World," acclaimed wilderness photographer Galen Rowell described the unprecedented view of Earth as "the most influential environmental photographic ever taken." The image of our planet, which seems so small and vulnerable in the blackness of space, made people aware of its fragility.
Earthrise is now one of the most reproduced space photos of all time, appearing on U.S. postage stamps, posters, and the cover of Time magazine in 1969. Many have pointed out the irony of the photo since Apollo 8 was sent to study and take pictures of the moon's surface - not look back at Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment