Earthrise
On the 24th of December 1968, astronaut William Anders held a camera during the Apollo 8 mission. This was the first crewed voyage to orbit the Moon. The spacecraft traveled around the lunar surface while three men watched Earth rise above the dark horizon. Frank Borman commanded the vessel and Jim Lovell served as pilot. Anders acted as the scientific crew member with a masters degree in nuclear engineering. He also performed photography duties for the entire Apollo program. His role became critical when he captured images that would change how humanity viewed its own planet.
The image appeared at 16:39:39 UTC on the fourth day of the mission. Anders used a highly modified Hasselblad 500 EL camera with an electric drive. The device featured a simple sighting ring instead of a standard reflex viewfinder. A 70 mm film magazine contained custom Ektachrome film developed by Kodak. He had been photographing the lunar surface with a 250 mm lens before switching to capture Earth. The exposure settings reached 1/250th of a second at f/5.6. Three photographs were taken in total during this sequence. The cloud patterns and land mass positions matched across all three shots.
NASA technicians drove four hours from Houston to Corpus Christi, Texas after the spacecraft returned. They needed color photo processing equipment that did not exist in their home base. Raul Rodriguez owned the family-run R&R Photo Studio & Color Labs. It was the only place in South Texas capable of handling professional 220-size film. Rodriguez processed the slides and copied them to regular 220 negatives for printing. He produced quick 8 inch by 10 inch glossy prints using a German-made Merz S2A dual-rocking-drum developer. An Auto-focus Chromega D4 enlarger sat on a motorized-drive roll-paper carrier. The images were fully defined via a self-replenishing Mylar-leader processor made by Nord in Minneapolis.
Accounts persisted for years that mission commander Frank Borman took the picture first. His 1988 autobiography claimed he grabbed the camera away from Bill Anders. A black-and-white reproduction appeared with the caption stating it was his work. The Postal Service used this image on a stamp while few photographs have been more frequently reproduced. The photograph reproduced is not the same image as the Anders photograph because cloud patterns differ. Borman later recanted this story based on evidence presented by transcript data. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center employee Ernie Wright produced a video proving Anders took all three shots. The land mass position and cloud patterns confirmed the color photograph belonged to Anders alone.
The original image rotated 95 degrees clockwise to produce the published Earthrise orientation. It showed Earth rising over the moonscape with south to the left. This photograph became the cover for the Spring 1969 issue of the Whole Earth Catalog. Wilderness photographer Galen Rowell described it as the most influential environmental photograph ever taken. Another author called its appearance the beginning of the environmental movement. William Anders observed fifty years after taking the photo that they set out to explore the moon but instead discovered the Earth. Joni Mitchell referenced the image in her 1976 song Refuge of the Roads describing a marbled bowling ball without cities or forests.
Anders' images were the first of their kind taken by a human being. Previous ones were taken robotically and in black-and-white by the Lunar Orbiter program probes. These robotic probes captured the first ever image of Earth above the Moon in 1966. In October 2018 two craters seen in the photo received official names from the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. The International Astronomical Union designated them Anders' Earthrise and 8 Homeward. They had previously been designated only with letters. The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in 1969 featuring a detail of the Earthrise photograph. It included words recalling the Apollo 8 Genesis reading about God creating heaven and earth.
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Common questions
Who took the Earthrise photograph on December 24 1968?
Astronaut William Anders captured the Earthrise photograph during the Apollo 8 mission. He served as the scientific crew member and performed all photography duties for the spacecraft.
What camera equipment did William Anders use to take the Earthrise photo?
Anders used a highly modified Hasselblad 500 EL camera with an electric drive and a 70 mm film magazine containing custom Ektachrome film. The exposure settings were set to 1/250th of a second at f/5.6.
Where was the original Earthrise image processed after the Apollo 8 mission returned?
NASA technicians drove four hours from Houston to Corpus Christi, Texas to process the images at R&R Photo Studio & Color Labs. Raul Rodriguez operated this family-run facility which was the only place in South Texas capable of handling professional 220-size film.
Did Frank Borman actually take the famous Earthrise photograph?
No, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center employee Ernie Wright produced video evidence proving that William Anders took all three shots. Transcript data and matching cloud patterns confirmed the color photograph belonged to Anders alone despite earlier claims by Borman.
When did the International Astronomical Union officially name craters seen in the Earthrise photo?
In October 2018 two craters received official names from the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. They were designated as Anders' Earthrise and 8 Homeward following their previous designation with letters.