[APOLLO 8] EARTHRISE. VINTAGE NASA "RED NUMBER" PHOTOGRAPH, 24 DECEMBER 1968.

The Vintage NASA Photo Collection of Philip Kulpa

[APOLLO 8]

EARTHRISE. 24 DECEMBER 1968.

Vintage NASA “Red Number” chromogenic color photograph, 10 by 8 inches, “A Kodak Paper” watermark, press captions in purple to verso. NASA image ID “NASA AS8-14-2383” printed in upper left margin in red.

The iconic image of "Earthrise" captured by William Anders aboard Apollo 8. "There was nothing in the plan for an Earthrise photo," Anders noted. "Indeed, we didn’t even see an actual Earthrise until, on our third orbit, we changed the spacecraft’s orientation to heads up and looking forward. As we came 'round the back side of the moon, where I had been taking pictures of craters near our orbital track, I looked up and saw the startlingly beautiful sight of our home planet 'rising' up above the stark and battered lunar horizon. It was the only color against the deep blackness of space. In short, it was beautiful, and clearly delicate."