Earth Rise

The Last - The Famous - The First

Astrophysicists like and are trained to see the big picture. That is why I think Earth rises are so beautiful and fulfilling. It feels good looking at the Earth from a distance. I have collected three versions of a distant view of Earth; the last, the most famous and the first that was ever taken of an Earth rise seen from the Moon. They all stem from extraordinary efforts in our space history. The first images of the Earth rise ever taken was done by the Lunar Orbiter program (NASA) and the most famous image is a product of the Apollo program (NASA). We can thank Kaguya (JAXA) for the last Earth rise image.

Personally I can't tell which one is my favorite. They each have their own qualities. I'd love to hear from you all what you think. Which photo of our planet do you prefer or find most appealing? Feel free to comment. :-)

The Last



Credit: JAXA/NHK
Earth rise on the Moon as seen by Kaguya/Selene 5. April 2008


See all the images from the JAXA's Kaguya mission here.


The Famous



Credit: NASA, Apollo 8
This photograph was taken during the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968, seven months before the first lunar landing.



The First



Credit: NASA/LOIRP
The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took this iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966. The resolution and quality of the image have been worked on by a team at NASA so it looks better than it did some 42 years ago.


By clicking on the images you get to the original source of the image and can find larger versions if you like.