#apollo 8

[gemini-enthusiast]

The crew of Artemis II were greeted this morning with a message from the late Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell, who flew aboard Apollo 8, the first mission to the Moon, and was the commander of Apollo 13, flying around the Moon in a free-return trajectory in a similar path to that followed by Artemis II. Though Lovell passed away last year, his spirit lives on in the heart of the Artemis program as we follow in his incredible footsteps.

[lonestarflight]

Earth as seen from Apollo 8 and Artemis II.

NASA ID: AS08-14-2383, art002e009285

[felicitywilds]

Earthrise (Apollo 8, 1968)

Earthset (Artemis II, 2026)

[mixedscholarlybag]

Apollo 8 || Artemis II

[without-ado]

If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon.

l quote: Galileo Galilei l pic: "Earthrise" Dec. 24, 1968 Apollo8 l via PhysInHistory

[spaceexp]

Earthrise on Christmas Eve 1968

[theinternetarchive]

earthrise from apollo 8, december 30, 1972.

[sepdet]

RiSE! Zero Gravity Indicator

Hat tip to eight-year-old Lucas Ye for seeing the famous "Earthrise" photo by Apollo 8, the first mission to circle the Moon as a test flight in 1968, and thinking, "hat," in possibly the greatest leap of pareidolia ever.

This video shows Paula Cain, who adapted Lucas' design into a fire-safe plushie:

ZIGs have been present on missions going all the way back to Apollo — they help strapped-in and suited-up astronauts know when they're truly weightless.

(Also, I suspect it's a way to head off some of the tinfoil hatters claiming the ghost of Stanley Kubrick is filming them on a sound stage in Burbank.)

Did you know? The "Earthrise" photo most of us thought of before Artemis II gave us new ones is actually several photos!

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were coming around from the far side of the Moon on their fourth orbit. Borman began to roll the spacecraft, and as he did, the Earth rose into view over the Moon’s limb. Anders, photographing the Moon from the right side window, caught sight of the view, and exclaimed: “Oh my God, look at that picture over there! There’s the Earth comin’ up. Wow, is that pretty!”

He snapped a black and white photo (top), capturing humanity’s first view of Earth from another planetary body. A few minutes later, Anders put color film in the camera and took the iconic color photographs of a half Earth hanging over the lunar horizon.

(Reminder: sunlight shining on the Moon's surface means it's too bright to see stars — it's like trying to see a candle 50 feet away with those too-bright headlights shining in your face).

So what's that framed photo behind Rise? And why do we all remember the horizon-hugging Earth in color?

Over the years, some reproductions have taken the liberty of moving the Earth in the color version closer to the horizon, since we know it had been there, while others borrow the colors from the color film to colorize the b&w.

And in 2013, for the 45th anniversary of Apollo 8, NASA Goddard Space Center used Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter high-res scans of the Moon plus TERRA satellite data of Earth to improve the resolution and recreate this photo in color:

More importantly, they recreated what the Apollo astronauts saw as a movie.

Here's the "Earthrise revisited" explainer with the recording of Anders and Lovell's mad scramble to change the film before it's too late!

I think the framed photo behind "Rise!" may be a still from this animation in which the gap between Earth and the horizon is the right size to make a good brim for the Earth as a hat. 😁