It was not until this stunning photo along with many others came back to earth with the apollo 8 astronauts in late december 1968 that we saw earth as a vibrant delicate blue and white globe framed by the velvety blackness of space.
Blue marble picture apollo 8.
Apollo 8 s earthrise photo changed our understanding of our place in the universe.
This translunar coast photograph extends from the mediterranean sea area to the antarctica south polar ice cap.
Schmitt lunar module pilot traveling toward the moon.
Evans command module pilot.
The new collection is called the blue marble.
It was taken by the crew of the apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the moon and is one of the most reproduced images in history.
Here s the story behind the picture blue marble.
The blue marble is an image of earth taken on december 7 1972 from a distance of about 29 000 kilometers 18 000 miles from the planet s surface.
This was the first time the apollo trajectory.
It mainly shows the earth from the mediterranean sea to antarctica.
The home planet as seen from lunar orbit christmas.
This photograph illustrates the earth as an isolated ecosystem floating in space.
And scientist astronaut harrison h.
It was taken by the astronaut bill anders on christmas eve 1968 as the apollo 8 spacecraft rounded the dark side of the moon for a fourth time.
Earthrise was followed by blue marble a view of the earth taken from the apollo 17 spacecraft in 1972.
On december 7 1972 the crew of apollo 17 changed the way we look at our home planet.
Although not a blue marble as it s in black and white lunar orbiter 1 took an earlier earthrise photo on august 23 1966.
That was the last of the apollo moon missions but nasa s space probes continued to take.
This is the first picture of the earth from lunar orbit.
This spectacular blue marble image is the most detailed true color image of the entire earth to date.
T his photograph is now half a century old.
View of the earth as seen by the apollo 17 crew astronaut eugene a.