File:Apollo Earth 350x350.jpg

Earthrise

"The most influential environmental photograph ever taken." -- Galen Rowell

The Story of the Earthrise photo

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

"The (Apollo 8) Earthrise photograph of 1968 and the (Apollo 17) 'Blue marble' photograph of 1972 between them frame the Apollo Moon programme. They represent the beginning and the summit of whole Earth awareness. While the Earthrise showed the Earth in space, 'Blue marble' showed the Earth alone. Filling the frame, centered on Africa (mankind's place of origin), and looking both alone and alive, its message was not 'space' but 'home'. It was a record of a particular historical moment: with Apollo 17, humankind's last trip (to date) beyond Earth's orbit..."