For
this blog post, I really wanted to find a photograph that wasn’t of human
suffering, but was still evocative enough to “change everything.” It took some
searching, but finally I decided to write about NASA Image #68-HC-870, more
commonly known as “Earthrise 1968,” taken by astronaut William Anders on
December 24, 1968.
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| http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm11.html |
The
photo was taken during the Apollo 8 mission, which was the first manned orbit
of the moon, and the first to take pictures in deep space. Frank Borman, James
Lovell, and William Anders left Earth on December 21, 1968 and returned 6 days
later after orbiting the moon 10 times. According to the Lunar and Planetary
Institute, “The overall objective of the mission was to demonstrate command and
service module performance in a cislunar (between the Earth and Moon) and
lunar-orbit environment, to evaluate crew performance in a lunar-orbit mission,
to demonstrate communications and tracking at lunar distances, and to return
high-resolution photography of proposed Apollo landing areas and other locations
of scientific interest,” (Lunar). The mission returned many photographs, but
Earthrise is by far the most famous. There was also an almost-identical black
and white image taken at the same time, but the color photo is far more
striking. The bright colors of Earth’s atmosphere, landmasses, and oceans
create sharp contrast against the profound black of the surrounding space. The
desolate surface of the moon is portrayed with startling clarity, emphasizing
the vibrancy of the Earth.
The
image was celebrated in Life: 100 Photographs that Changed the World,
published by LIFE magazine in 2003, along with many other photos we’ve studied
this semester, such as Migrant Mother, The Horse in Motion, and several of
Roger Fenton’s photographs of the Crimean War.
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scott_1371,_Apollo_8.jpg |
In
1969, the US Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp with the image and a
quote from the Book of Genesis, which the astronauts had read while on the
mission. According to the Digital Journalist’s coverage of the LIFE book, “the
late adventure photographer Galen Rowell called it ‘the most influential environmental
photograph ever taken,’” (Digital). It marked the first time human society had
seen the Earth as a whole, and “had an astounding effect, [author] Robert Poole
explains, and in fact transformed thinking about the Earth and its environment
in a way that echoed throughout religion, culture, and science. Gazing upon our
whole planet for the first time, we saw ourselves and our place in the universe
with new clarity,” (Yale).
To
put the picture in context, 1968 was a year of huge political and social
upheaval in the United States. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. had
been assassinated, there was still a great deal of controversy surrounding the
Vietnam War, which continued to escalate, and the civil rights and counterculture
movements were in full swing. The Cold War and the Space Race were causing
tension between the United States and the USSR. In addition to American events,
there was unrest in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Northern
Ireland. At the end of a tumultuous year, Earthrise gave an entirely new
perspective on human existence.
Apollo 8 marked many firsts in the
scientific world. It was the first manned spacecraft that went beyond Earth’s
orbit, the first manned craft to orbit the moon, the first craft of any kind to
take pictures from deep space, and to send a live television broadcast from
space. The broadcast took place on Christmas Eve, watched and listened to by
one billion people. Earthrise represented all the huge strides that had been
taken in the name of science.
The
photograph was not only a technological marvel, it evoked an emotional response
from the entire population. It reminded people on a visceral level how utterly
invaluable the Earth is. As astronaut Jim Lovell said of the mission, “The vast
loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back
there on Earth,” (NSSDC). Seeing the planet look almost fragile, vibrant with
life amid a sea of blackness, brought a new appreciation for Earth, and a
realization that the human race has not always been particularly kind to it. As
a result, Earthrise 1968 became “the iconic image of the environmental
movement,” (PBS). The first Earth Day occurred less than two years after the
photo was taken. Earthrise also shed light on the true scale of human problems.
Against the vastness of space, even the unimaginable suffering on Earth must
have seemed surmountable.
References
The Digital Journalist. 100 Photographs That Changed the World by Life. Retrieved from
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm11.html
Great Images in NASA. (2011, April 15). GPN-2001-000009 - Earthrise - Apollo 8. Retrieved from
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2001-000009.html
Lunar and Planetary Institute. Apollo 8 Mission. Retrieved from
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_8/
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8_xmas.html
NASA. (2005, December 24). Astronomy Picture of the Day. Retrieved from
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051224.html
NASA. (2003, December 18). Christmas in the Heavens. Retrieved from
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/livinginspace/Christmas_in_space.html
PBS. Timeline: The Modern Environmental Movement. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/earthdays/
Publishers Weekly. (2008, September 15). Nonfiction Review: Earthrise: How We First Saw
Ourselves, Robert Poole, Author. Retrieved from
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-300-13766-8
Wikipedia. (2013, March 24). 1968. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968.
Wikipedia. (2013, February 23). Earthrise. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise.
Yale University Press. Earthrise - Poole, Robert. Retrieved from
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300137668.
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