Earthrise, Then and Now

Forty years ago, on Dec. 24, 1968, astronauts on Apollo 8, having made the first human passage around the moon, were stunned to notice an "Earth Rise." In 2007, an HD camera aboard Japan's Kaguya satellite videotaped earth 'rising' and 'setting.' Set to music by Peter Rundquist, the images bring home the lonely, extraordinary nature of this "pale blue dot."
Visit http://www.nytimes.com/dotearth
and http://www.jaxa.jp for more info.

(HD version lacks sound; new posted version has astronauts' voices.)
After consulting with my friend Andy Chaikin (http://www.andrewchaikin.com), the definitive Apollo historian, I found out that confusion over who exclaimed about the Earth view has been cleared up. It was Bill Anders, not Frank Borman. Andy says he'd stake his (significant) reputation on this. The official NASA transcript still says "Anders or Borman"....

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• aviation
• space
• environment
• earth
• chaikin
• apollo
• nasa
• planet
• moon
• astronauts